I ► 1 l>^ DOCTRINAL ERRORS THE APOSTOLICAL AND EARLY FATHERS'. *' I HAD RATHKR TRUST TO THE SHADOW OF THE CHURCH WHICH THE SCRIPTURE TEACHES, THAN TO ALL THE MEN'S WRITINGS SINCE THE DAYS OP polycarp." Bishop Hooper. I By WILIJUiife^^SKBN, Jun. LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., HATCHARD AND SON, AND SEELEY AND SON; AND J. Y. KNIGHT, LEEDS. 1835. o 7 J;7 6f^^ A. PTCKABD, raiKTEE, LEEDS. PREFACE It has been very common with writers on divinity to deal, tenderly with the errors of the early Christian fathers, and much might with propriety be urged in justification of the practice. There is that also, in the nature of past controversies, which will satisfactorily account for it. But, it cannot be concealed, that this forbearance of the Protestant divines is now taken advantage of by the Roman Catholics, and those who agree with them on the subject of the unwritten tradition of the church, and that it occasions considerable difficulty and inconvenience. The following work is composed under a sense of this difficulty. The author began to peruse the writings of the early fathers with considerable doubt and hesita- tion, as to the mode in which their tradition ought to be received. And it occurred to him long before he had completed his undertaking, that a faithful exposure of their mistakes might subserve an useful purpose in the cause of Christianity. As neither the author's time, nor his opportunities of IV PREFACE. access to books, are unbounded, he has been compelled to forego the perusal of any modern works which may have preceded him on the various subjects that have fallen under discussion, and to devote himself entirely to the writings of the fathers themselves, in preparing it. He is conscious that his book may have suffered considerably on this account; but, nevertheless, it appeared perfectly evident that nothing could compensate for want of acquaintance with the authors whose opinions he proposed to examine. But to the works of one modem divine he is glad of this opportunity of expressing his deep obligations. It is scarcely necessary to name the treatises of the Bishop of Lincoln upon Justin Martyr and Tertullian. These, he hopes, that he has generally applied to the purpose for which the right reverend author intended them : he has endeavoured, by their help, to extend his acquaintance with the fathers of whom they treat, rather than to save his own labour. In one instance, however, he has departed from this rule, and he regrets that, through inadvertency, it has not been acknowledged in the proper place. It is in the fifth chapter of the present work, upon Angels : the idea of embodying the opinions of an author upon angels and demons is altogether the learned prelate's : it is merely extended there to a synopsis of the doctrine of the fathers of the two first centuries upon these subjects. I PREFACE. V The rough note of the remarks upon the cessation of miracles in the second chapter, was written before the author had the advantage of seeing these admirable treatises, and it gave him the utmost pleasure to find his conjecture confirmed by so high an authority. He merely mentions this, because, as it is a question of evidence, every separate and independent examination of the same facts which leads to the same conclusion, is of some importance in it. Archbishop Wake's translation of the apostolical fathers is generally adopted in the present work, though it is sometimes departed from. He has only further to observe, that it has been throughout his earnest endeavour to state the opinions of these early writers fairly and accurately. Should he prove to have failed (and he well knows that this is far from improbable) he will have at any rate the consolatory reflection, that it has not been for lack either of honesty of purpose, or of the most zealous and devoted attention he was capable of giving to the subject. CONTENTS. I PAGE. INTUODUCTIOX, xix CHAPTER I. - NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. Capable of proof from the absurdities of Idolatry, 1 Supernatural communications more frequent in the early ages of the world, 2 Gradually withdrawn from thence to the times of the New Testament, 3 Divine purpose accomplished in such a revelation of the divine will, and such a state of human society, as should obviate the necessity of further miraculous interference, 4 How this revelation ought to be received, 6 Whether the apostolical fathers were under the same obligation, 6, ^ CHAPTER II. THE WRITINGS OP THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS WERE NOT INSPIRED. Epistles of Clement and Barnabas probably written before the comple- tion of the canon, 8 Cessation of miracles, j) No allusion to existing miracles in Clement and Barnabas, ibid. -Ignatius and Polycarp, 10 Mode of speaking of existing miracles by Justin, Theophilus, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, H They had ceased in the times of Clement of Alexandria, 12 Gradual but rapid departure of miraculous gifts, 13 Inspiration withdrawn in the same manner, 14 Semi-inspiration ]5 Vm CONTENTS. PAGE. Apostolical fathers not inspired, and, therefore, in that respect simi- larly circumstanced with all other Christians, 10 CHAPTER III. TRADITION. Advantages of the apostolical fathers as the cotemporaries of our Lord and his apostles, 17 Traditional doctrines in Christianity, 18 Their existence denied, 19 No appeal to them in the epistles of the apostolical fathers, 20 Rejected by Irenaeus, ibid. TertuUian, 21 Asserted by Clement of Alexandria in support of the double doctrine, ibid. No doctrine of the early fathers to be received, which is not to be found in the Bible, 22, 23 CHAPTER IV. OPINIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS UPON INSPIRATION. Limits of literary excellence and inspiration imperfectly understood by the early church, 24 Avowal of inspiration by Barnabas, 25 Ignatius, ibid. These avowals unimportant in the determination of the canon of Scripture, 26 Similar assertion in the Stromates of Clement, 27 Truth the essence of Christianity, 28,29 The many false and forged books of the first and second centuries, ... 30 Mode in which they were regarded by the early church, 31 Opinions on the inspiration of the Septuagint, of Irenseus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, 32 The book of Enoch inspired, 33 The Greek philosophy inspired, ibid. The opinions of the second century on inspiration valueless as an inde- pendent testimony : and only important as a link in the chain of evidence which sustains the authenticity of the canonical books, 34 Origin of these vague opinions, ibid. I CONTENTS. IX PAGE. Their effects— the Shepherd of Hermas, 35 The notion of TertuUian and Clement regarding the double doctrine, ibid. Cause of the success of the forged books, 36 Doctrines of the second century derived from these sources as well as from the Bible, ibid. Design of the work, ibid. CHAPTER V. ANGELS. Nothing immediately revealed to us regarding Angels, 37 Nature and attributes of good angels according to the Scriptures, ... 37 — 41 evil angels, 41 — 43 Limited nature of our scriptural knowledge on these subjects, 43 Impatience of the early church for further revelations on the nature of angels, 44 Ignatius, ibid. Hermas, 45 Angelic system of the fathers of the second century, ibid. Nature of angels, 46 Free-will of angels, 47 First fall of the angels, ibid. Second fall do 48 Universally believed in the second century, ibid. Danger of further angelic defections, 49 Forbidden arts taught by the fallen angels, ibid. Origin of giants and demons, 60 Satan the prince of the infernal hosts, ibid. Their endeavours to destroy the soul, 51 They lead men into idolatry, 52 Their powers of locomotion, ibid. Changes in the condition of the evil angels at the advent of our Lord, 53 Origin of the heresies of the second century, ibid. Every human being has his attendant evil demon, 54 Interminable war throughout the universe, between the good and evil angels, iMd, Arrangement and discipline of the hosts of heaven, 55 Comparison of the Scriptural and Patristical schemes of angelic existence, 56—58 I X CONTENTS. PACE. Free-will of angels, 69 Origin of the system of demonology adopted by the early fathers, 60 — 64 The book of Enoch, 61—63 Rapid decline of the error regarding the angels, 65 The errors to which it had given rise not expunged from the traditional creed of the church, id. 66 CHAPTER VI. THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS BAPTISM. The material and immaterial doctrines regarding the sacraments, 67 Asserted antiquity of the former, ibid. Advantage of the latter in point of analogy, 68 Inconvenience of the scheme which holds the materiality of the one sacrament and the immateriality of the other, 69 Holy Scripture the ultimate appeal upon the question, ibid. Scripture doctrine of baptism, 70 — 78 Opinions of Clement and Barnabas, 78, 79 Hermas, 80 — 82 Hermas exalts the outward rite, 82 Justin Martyr, i 83 Irenaeus, 84 Tertullian — account of his tract " de Baptismo," 85 — 89 His doctrine of Baptism, 90 Clement of Alexandria, 90—93 Summary of the doctrine in the second century, 93 Infant Baptism, 96 Origin of baptismal regeneration, 96 CHAPTER VII. THE EUCHARIST. Scriptural account of its institution, 97 Allusion in it to the Paschal Lamb, 98 Different opinions maintained regarding it, 99 Presumption in favour of the immaterial doctrine, ibid. Declarations of Scripture in harmony with this presumption, 100 Objectionable mode of stating the doctrine of the atonement, by Cle- ment of Rome, ibid. — — — by Ignatius, 101 CONTENTS. XI PAGE. Efficacy ascribed to the outward sign by Ignatius, 102 Justin Martyr on the Eucharist, 103 Wine mixed with water in the cup, ibid. Obscure passage in Justin, 'f. ibid. Doctrine of Justin, 104 Irenaeus on the Eucharist, 105 Change in the elements during the offertory, 106 Tertullian on the Eucharist, 107 Clement of Alexandria. Obscure passage regarding the cup, 108 Remarks upon it, 109 Clement not a transubstantiator, 110 Comparison of the doctrine of the early church, on the Eucharist, with that of the Bible, Ill Origin of Transubstantiation, 112, 113 CHAPTER VIII. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. Spiritual nature of Christian worship, 115 — 117 Prayer, 117 Clement of Rome on times of prayer, 118 Hermason do. ...^. 119—121 Tertullian— his tract " de Oratione," 121—124 Erroneous practices in prayer mentioned by him, 124 Impious prayer of Clement of Alexandria, 125 Error of the early fathers on prayer, ibid. Multiplication of the external ceremonies of Christianity, 126 CHAPTER IX. CELIBACY AND THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY. Apparent result of the enquiry, confirmed by the present subject, 129 Origin of the error of celibacy very apparent, ibid. Not to be found in the self-denial enjoined in the New Testament, 130 Opinions of Pythagoras, 131 Discipline of the Essenes, 132 Probable origin of both. Buddhism, 134 Virgin-widow s, 136 Xli CONTENTS. PAGE. Heretics who denounced marriage, 137 Tertullian on second marriages, 138 Clement of Alexandria on marriage, 139 celibacy, 142 The perpetual virginity, 143 Not maintained by the church in the first and second centuries, 144 Clement of Alexandria the first father who maintained it ; his autho- rity for this doctrine, 145 Doctrine of the early church on celibacy, and its consequences, 146 CHAPTER X. ASCETICISM. Abstinence of the Gospel, 148 Hermas on Stations, 149 Tertullian — account of his tract " Adversus Psychicos." 151 Clemens Alexandrinus. — The second Paedagogue, 1 57 Causes of the extreme rigour of discipline in the early church, 160 Its beneficial effects, 161 Mistakes of Clement, ibid' Comparison between him and Tertullian, 162 Gnostical perfection, 163 Note CHAPTER XI. ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY AND PERSONS. Passage from Clement to the Corinthians, 166 Appointment of ministers in the early church, 167 Order of the ministry, 168 Authority of the ministry,.. 169 Abolition of the Aaronical priesthood, ibid. Remarks on Matt. xvi. 19. The power of the Keys, 171 In what it consisted, 174 New Testament doctrine regarding the authority of the Christian ministry, 178 Argument of the Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians, 182 His object in writing it a highly laudable one, 188 His notions of ecclesiastical supremacy, ibid. Comparison of his spirit with that of St. Paul, 189 I I CONTENTS. Xlll PAGE. Error of St. Clement universally prevalent, 191 Epistles of Ignatius, 191 to the Ephesians, 192 Magnesians, 193 Trallians and Philadelphians, 194 Smyrnaeans, 195 His doctrine upon ecclesiastical supremacy, 196 Entirely without scriptural authority, 198 Tertullian on the same, and on tradition, 199 Traditional church government and ceremonies in Christianity, 200 Valentinus, 202 " It is not in the power of tradition to ordain any thing against God's word :" this rule applicable to all things in Christianity, 203 Tendency of the error of Clement and Ignatius, 204 Heresies of the second century, 205 Danger of the church from thence, 206 Their probable cause, 207 Inconsistency of Ignatius in maintaining the divine power of the clergy, 208 Its universal prevalence in succeeding periods, 209 Summary of the argument, ibid. Origin of the error, 211 Its evil consequences, 212 Such opinions less prevalent in the Church of England now than for- merly, 215 CHAPTER XII. MARTYRDOM. Honours bestowed upon the early martyrs, 217 Hermas on martyrdom, tJId. Holy Spirit miraculously with them, 218 Prerogative of martyrdom, 219 Ignatius to the Romans, 220 Frantic proceedings before the Roman Tribunals, 221 Tertullian on flight in persecution, ibid. Clement of Alexandria, 223 on the prerogative of martyrdom, 224 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. THE SUPREMACY OF ROME. PAGE. This dogma pretends to no scriptural authority, 226 No countenance from Clement's epistle, ibid. Ignatius and Irenaeus on the apostolic churches, 227 TertuUian, do., 228 Anxiety of the early fathers to exalt the See of Rome, 229 Cause of it, ibid. Mode of fulfilment of 2 Thess. ii. 5—8., 231 CHAPTER XIV. MODES OF INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE ADOPTED BY THE EARLY CHURCH. Importance of this part of the enquiry, 232 Ultimate appeal of the early fathers, upon all questions, to the inspired books, ibid. Licentiousness of their canon of interpretation, 233 St. Clement of Rome and the Phoenix, 234 Ignatius on 1 Pet. ii. 5., 230 The Amphibolia, 239 St. Clement of Rome on Josh, ii., 240 humility, ibid. Asserted simplicity of the primitive Christian, 242 Justin Martyr on Isa. Ivii. 1., and certain Psalms, 243 . his dialogue with Trypho, 244 Irenaeus on John xv. 14., and Psa. Ixxxv. 12., 246 Matt. xxiv. 28., Hosea i. 2, 3., Exod. ii. 21., 247 TertuUian — Scriptural interpretations in his tract " adversus Judaeos," 248 Clement of Alexandria — the Paedagogue, 250 Strange comments on Gen. xxvL 8., and 1 Cor. iii. 2., 252 Definition of the Amphibolia, with instances from Clement of Alex. andria, 254 The Bible an occultation, 266 Christianity and heathen philosophy, iji^ The epistle of St. Barnabas, 256 Its authenticity, 267 CONTENTS. XV I'AGE. Powerful influence it exerted over the writings of the second century, 257 Amphibolies upon the word |uAov froin Justin Martyr, .. ibid. , — ^Irenaeus, 259 St. Barnabas on Exod. xvii. 8 — 13., 260 Copied by Justin and TertuUian, 261 Their doctrine on the efficacy of the sign of the cross, 262 St. Barnabas on Num. xxi. 4 — 10., ibid. Again copied and further enlarged from the New Testament, by Justin and TertuUian, 264 Sense in which the lifting up of the brazen serpent typifies Christ, 265 Mode in which miracles were performed, 266 No violation of the Second Commandment in making the brazen serpent, 267 Scripture narrative altered by Barnabas and not corrected by his copyists, 268 His comment on Gen. xlviii. 14, &c., 269 Again copied by TertuUian, ibid. Figure of the cross and its virtues, how discovered in Scripture by Justin, 270 by TertuUian, 271 Numerical mode of the Amphibolia from Barnabas, 272 Another mistake in his scriptural quotation, 273 Fear of the Greek philosophy in Clement's time, 274 H is mode of allaying it — the numerical amphiboly, 275 Able confutation of it by Irenaeus, 278 Other instances of it from Clement of Alexandria, 279 The worship of the cross, 280 Amphibolies upon the name of Christ, ibid. Danger of interpreting the narratives of the one Testament, as types of the other, 281 The sacred histories mere apologues, 282 Philo's opinions, ibid. Jacob a type of Christ, from Irenaeus, 283 Its absurdity, and discrepancy from a comment on the same passage by TertuUian, ibid. Comments upon the prohibitions of animal food in the Mosaic law, ... 285 H Origin of these prohibitions, 286 H St. Barnabas, 287 H Copied from Fhilo, 289 H^ Irenaeus, ibid. XVI CONTENTS. PAOE. Ingenuity of his comment, 290 Authen ticity of St. Barnabas's epistle established, ibid. Defence of the Amphibolia, 291 Secret doctrines not to be written, ibid. Clement's mode of defence, 292 Important admission, 293 The fjt,v^ot, ibid. Outer and inner doctrines, 294 The Bible a mythology, 295 CHAPTER XV. PECULIAR DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY. Whether there is any necessity of proceeding with the present enquiry, 297 Errors on inspiration recapitulated, 298 Verbal inspiration of the apostles, ibid. The freedom of the will, 299 Discussed by the Stoics and Platonists, 300 Conversion of Justin Martyr, ibid. His Platonism, 301 His hostility to the Stoics the cause of his martyrdom, ibid. His doctrine on free-will, 302 Irenaeus, Und. Tertullian, 303 Clement of Alexandria a Platonist, 304 The Greek philosophers, especially Plato, borrowed from the writings of Moses, 306 Clement on free-will, ibid. Doctrines of Grace ; disregarded by the fathers of the second century, 306 They followed Plato rather than Christ on these points, 308 Reason of this, ibid. Scriptural doctrine upon the question of the will, 309 Doctrines of grace maintained by St. Clement of Rome, 310 St. Barnabas, 312 ___ St. Ignatius, 313 The epistle of St. Polycarp, 314 The unfeigned humility of its author, 315 Comparison of Polycarp and Ignatius, 316 Their martyrdom, 317 CONTENTS. XVll PAGE. Further proofs of Polycarp's humility, 318 His orthodoxy, 319 The written and unAvritten tradition of Christianity in perfect harmony in the times of the apostolical fathers, 320 Justin's Platonism disturbed this harmony, ibid. Its identification with Christianity, 321 CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION. The dispensation of grace altogether a new one, 324 One of its distinctive marks, the final cessation of miracles, ibid. Order of the universe, imperfect beginnings and gradual development, 325 Christianity in harmony therewith, 326 Purity of the primitive times, ibid. The miracles by which Christianity was established, no part of its eco- nomy as it regards this world, 327 Mental state of the early converts, 328 Their incapacity as commentators, 329 Their tradition of no prescriptive authority, ibid. Appendix, 331 INTRODUCTION. I The following account of the fathers quoted in the present work is principally from the ecclesiastical histories of Eusebius of Pamphylia, who wrote early in the fourth century. It may sometimes save the reader the trouble of referring to other books. A.D. Clement of Rome. — The first bishop of that See ; he was ordained thereto by the apostles St Peter and St. Paul. He is said to have suffered in the persecution that arose in the third of Trajan, A.D. 101. His epistle to the Corin- thians was written about 70 -\ Barnabas. — The companion of St. Paul. He was originally a Levite, of Cyprus. (Acts iv. 36, 37.) His name is supposed to have been changed from Joses to Barnabas, (the son of consolation,) on account of the large estate which he sold and divided among the poor at his conversion. He alludes to the meaning of this name at the commencement of his epistle ; a production which is not so highly spoken of by the ancients as that of Clement. It was written somewhere about the time of the fall of Jeru- salem 71. Hermas. — The author of the books which go under this name, was unknown in the times of Eusebius. The XX INTRODUCTION. notion that he was the Hernias mentioned by St. Paul, (Rom. xvi. 14^) is manifestly a fable. They are an imita- tion of the Apocalypse of St. John, and do not appear to have been composed earlier than the commencement of the second century. Ignatius. — Regarding this very eminent servant of God, we only know that he was the disciple of St. John the apostle, by whom he was ordained to the see of Antioch ; and the circumstances of his martyrdom. He voluntarily presented himself to the emperor Trajan, when that mo- narch passed through Antioch, on his way to Armenia, to repel the aggressions of the Parthians, and avowed himself a Christian. This brave and high-minded (but not very prudent) proceeding, of course, procured his own immediate condemnation : and seems to have been the commencement of a persecution, though the mind of the emperor was not before made up to such a measure. He, and three others, were sent to Rome, under a guard of ten soldiers, to be devoured by wild beasts, in the circus, at the games which were then about to begin. They set sail from Seleucia, and coasted the southern shore of Asia Minor to Smyrna, where he was allowed to communicate freely with St Poly- carp and the Christians there. It would appear, that he was met here by deputations from the Christians of several cities in Asia Minor, who had heard the news of his con- demnation. To three of these, Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, he wrote epistles from Smyrna, and also one to Rome. The soldiers hurried him away to Troas ; and it was from thence that he sent the three remaining epistles that have come down to us ; to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and to Polycarp, their bishop. He complains of the conduct of the soldiers more than once ; calling them " ten leopards, to whom he was bound as with a chain." (Rom. c. v.) Not- withstanding, the facts wc have detailed, will show that INTRODUCTION. XXI A.D. lie must, under the circumstances, have been treated with considerable indulgence. The martyrdom of Ignatius took place during the Kalends of January, in the 19th of Trajan 118. PoLYCARP. — The most perfect exemplar of the spirit of Christianity in the compass of uninspired Christian anti- quity. He was the disciple of St. John, and the friend of Ignatius. By that apostle he was ordained bishop of Smyrna, in Asia Minor. The few particulars that we know concerning him are nearly all detailed in the course of the present work. He was burnt at the stake at Smyrna, at the advanced age of eighty-six. Only one of his epistles remains to us, which was addressed to the church at Philippi. Others are mentioned, though not named, in the epistle of Irenaeus to Florinus, (apud Eusehium, lib. 5. c. 20,J but, it seems probable, that they were merely of a private nature. His martyrdom took place, according to the modern chro- nologies, in the tenth of the emperor Antonius Pius 147. Justin Martyr. — A native of Flavia Neapolis, in Samaria. He was born of Gentile parents. By his own account of himself, he embraced Christianity after having tried the various sects of philosophy, without satisfaction to his mind. Of his works, (which exercised a very powerful influence over the early church,) three only remain. Two Apologies for Christianity ; and his dialogue with Trypho the Jew. Some others are also mentioned by Eusebius. According to Tatian, his scholar, he suffered martyrdom during the reign of Antoninus Philosophus, which com- menced 161. The Bishop of Lincoln's Justin. Athenagoras The pupil of Justin, and a philoso- pher of Athens. These are all the i)articulars we know XXll INTRODUCTION. A.D. concerning him. Two of his works are still extant The one is an Apology for Christianity ; the other is a treatise on the resurrection of the dead. The former was written on the occasion of a persecution, and is addressed to the emperor Antoninus Philosophus, after his son, Commodus, had been associated with him in the imperial dignity, and, therefore, late in his reign. Probably it was during the persecution, so many details of which, in the GaUic pro- vinces, are preserved by Eusebius : and which, as he informs us, raged with equal fury over the whole world. This is generally computed to have taken place 177. Tatian, the Assyrian, was also the pupil of Justin. After his death, he fell into the errors of the Encratites, who macerated the body through hatred to matter. Euse- bius informs us that he was a voluminous writer, but that his master-piece was his oration against the Greeks, which alone remains to us of his works : but there is nothing in it to excite a moment's regret at the loss of the rest. Theophilus, bishop of Antioch. — A list of the works of this father is likewise given by Eusebius ; one of them is still extant : a defence of the Christian religion, addressed to Autolycus, a heathen. It is a very learned, but diffuse and heavy, production. iRENiEUS. — The pupil of St Polycarp; by whom he was sent to preach the Gospel among the Gauls, where he was a presbyter under Pothinus, bishop of Lyons, and at his martyrdom, succeeded him. According to the martyr- ologists, he suffered in the early persecutions of Severus, who was raised to the imperial dignity A.D. 194 : but this is a very doubtful authority. His principal work, the five books against the Heretics, still remains in a barbarous INTRODUCTION. XXIU A.D. Latin translation. It is frequently quoted and remarked upon in the present work. Tertullian. — Our information regarding this eminent and highly talented individual is just as defective as in the preceding instances. According to Jerome, he was a native of Carthage; the son of a proconsular centurion. He remained a presbyter of the church until middle life, when he was driven by the envy and contumelious treatment of the Roman clergy, to embrace the doctrine of Montanus, a fanatical heretic, of Phrygia. His opinions and proceedings bear a close resemblance to those that, within these few years, have made their appearance in this country, and in Scotland : some of the partisans of which are understood to avow that Montanus was inspired by the Holy Ghost. After his conversion to Montanism, Tertullian resided at Carthage, where he founded a sect who named themselves Tertulli- anists. His works, which are very numerous, have been divided into such as were written before he left the church, and those he composed afterwards. — The Bishop of Lincoln's Ecclesiastical History, (whence this notice of Tertullian has been extracted,) contains the best account of them ; perhaps, the best account that ever was written of the works of any ancient author. Tertullian is said to have lived to an advanced age, and to have flourished during the reigns of Septimus Severus and Caracalla ; the latter began to reign 211. And was murdered by Macrinus 217. Clement of Alexandria. — Perhaps a native of Sicily ; was afterwards the pupil of Pantaenus in the school of Christian philosophy at Alexandria. The founder of this sect of philosophers is unknown. It is said to have had the approbation of Athenagoras, and I suspect that his master, Justin, was by no means unfavourable to it. Like his cotemporaries, Clement was a voluminous writer. Several I XXIV INTRODUCTION. works of his, mentioned by Eusebius, and referred to by himself, are now lost. Of those that remain, the Exhorta- tion to the Gentiles is a powerful exposure of the follies of heathenism, the Paedagogue is a rule of life for ordinary Christians, and the Stromates is a guide to gnostical perfec- tion. Eusebius says that he composed this last during the reign of Severus, and accordingly we find that the chrono- logies in the first book all terminate with the death of his predecessor Commodus. The same author mentions also, that it consisted of eight books, and that number occurs in our copies : but the eighth is a dissertation on dialectics, I think, by another hand. Clement is best known as the tutor of Origen. The time and mode of his death are not to be found in any author. DOCTRINAL ERRORS, CHAPTER I. NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. THE human mind was not created for a state of entire independence of all communications of knowledge from the great Author of its existence. We might easily point out its incapacity of attaining to certain truths which it is, nevertheless, needful for man to know, and to know as- suredly ; and by referring to the monstrous absurdities in religion which, in all ages of the world, have arisen out of this incapacity, triumphantly demonstrate the necessity of a divine teaching. But the enquiry would be foreign to our present purpose, for which it will be sufficient to show that such has been the divine economy, by a very superficial glance at the early history of the human race. In the paradisaical state, the intercourses between God and man were so constant and familiar as to evidence that man, in maintaining that communion, was fulfilling a primary purpose of his creation. It was only when, by man''s disobedience, sin entered into the world, that he hid himself from the presence of his Heavenly Father. And, notwithstanding, we are taught by his subsequent history, that even sin could not frustrate this purpose of his most benevolent Creator. It did not comport with that inscrutable wisdom, which condescends not at all to our un- hallowed curiosity, to reveal to us many particulars regard- ing the nature and frequency of the intercourses between heaven and earth, during the long period that intervened between the fall and the flood. Thus much, however, we easily gather from what is written ; — that the direct revela- tions of the divine will to mankind were of very frequent occurrence, and that the providential dispensations of God then assumed a decidedly judicial character ; much more so than at any subsequent period : — that is, viewing the general tenor of God's providential government at that time as compared with any other period of equal duration, and excluding, of course, those particular epochs when, to effect some great change in the theocratic notions of mankind, the Omnipotent unveiled for a season the hidings of his power ; and said to the functions of nature, as well as to the consciences of men, be still, and know that I am God. Under this aspect we shall find, that the visible deal- ings of God with man have been regulated by a law ex- actly analogous to that which governs the rise and growth of all beings within the range of our observation, both in the physical and moral world. Their earliest mode of existence is a very crude and imperfect one ; rendering them dependent, at first altogether, and for a longer or shorter subsequent period in great measure, upon assist- ances external to themselves for its continuance : and they attain to that degree of perfection which enables them to become self-existent, as it respects their fellow-beings, by a process of gradual development. Exactly after this manner hath God dealt with the human race. When man was first driven from the pre- sence of his Maker in paradise, to wander over the earth that was cursed for his sake, he was dependent upon the direct agency of the Supreme Being for the supply of his every want ; the very coats of skins that clothed our first parents did the Lord God make. Gen. iii. 21. This direct superintendence appears to have been long continued ; and to have been gradually withheld, partly, because men had so far profited by the instructions which had flowed to them from the fountain of all wisdom, re- specting the common arts of life, as no longer to require it, — ^but principally, because they had rejected the word of the Lord, as it regarded the far more important concerns of the life to come, and sinned against him. And if we trace the divine economy downward, through the succeeding periods of the human history, we shall find the Almighty slowly withdrawing himself behind the veil of providence — every successive departure hastened by that fatal cause which first began the separation between man and his God, sin : but all harmonised by the skill of Omniscience into an entire subserviency of his great purposes ; until, in the fulness of time, God was manifest in the flesh, the great atonement for the sins of the whole human race was offered upon Calvary, the gospel of the kingdom was preached to all the nations of the Roman world, and the last breath of inspiration refreshed the fainting spirit of the aged exile of Patmos, and closed, finally and for ever, the book of God's revelation to mankind. The subsequent history of the world informs us, that the economy of the divine dispensation had now attained to that state of perfection for which the long preceding series of supernatural interferences had been disciplining and preparing the human mind. The whole will of God to man, and all things necessary for him to know regard- ing his future state of existence, were upon record; and that record was capable of authentication, by every mode of proof which it was possible for his understanding to re- quire. God then altogether withheld any more direct dis- play of his power, or even existence, than the standing miracle of universal providence, whereby the invisible things being clearly seen by those that do appear, men are left without excuse; and those hidden miracles of grace, which the Holy Spirit, by the ministry of the word, works from time to time in the hearts of men, convincing the happy subjects of them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and witnessing with their spirits that they are the children of God. But though the believer knows, with the full assurance of faith, that God speaks to his heart, yet a stranger intermeddleth not with his joy, — the evidence hereof is for himself alone. — He departs from the evil that is in the world, and walks with God in newness of life ; and these are the only demonstrations he can offer to his fellow men of the reality of the blessing he has received. Miracles, then, ceased, because the Divine Revelation, and human society, were now placed in circumstances which obviated the necessity of further miraculous interposition : and therefore it inevitably follows, that the Bible is the substitute which God hath appointed for those interferen- ces with the established orders of Providence, wherewith, in the infancy of the world, he manifested his will to man- kind. So that to the question, How ought it to be received by the succeeding generations of the human family ? we reply, without hesitation, exactly in the same manner as would have been received those previous revelations of the divine will which were attended with supernatural pheno- mena. The Bible contains the words of God, though we hear not the voice from heaven that utters them : and every precept therein is equally binding upon the man who, at any period, shall have its meaning and its sanctions pre- sented to his understanding, as it was upon him in the cir- cumstances of whose life the revelation originated, whose ear heard the accents of the voice of God, whose eyes beheld the vision of angels. We have only to consider how a revelation would be received and regarded, by the person to whom it was vouchsafed, and we have the exact measure of the duty of every man regarding the Holy Scriptures. This obligation arises from the circumstances of the case, and is of universal authority. It was as binding upon the apostolic men as upon the men of this generation ; and it will be equally binding upon mankind a thousand years hence, (should the present dispensation continue so long,) as it is upon us. The time that may have elapsed between the revelation, and the existence of the individual who is made acquainted with it, is no element of the question. All this is sufficiently apparent, and we never find any difficulty in carrying the argument forward ; we can readily comprehend that, if we affi^rd to our children the same religious advantages as we ourselves enjoy, their obli- gations, as to the mode in which they shall receive the Scriptures and bow to their authority, are exactly the same as our own ; and we easily follow it out to any number of succeeding generations. But a difficulty certainly does 6 arise, when we come to pursue these reasonings retro- spectively ; and the more remote the period to which we carry our enquiry, the more formidable does the difficulty become ; until we discuss the mode in which the New Testament Scriptures ought to have been received and in- terpreted by the apostolic fathers, when it would appear that we have raised a question of considerable intricacy. It is, however, essential to our present enquiry that we should endeavour to enter fully into the merits of it. Let us, then, consider, whether Clement, Barnabas, Ignatius, and Polycarp, (the only apostolic men of whose writings any thing remains to us) had or had not advantages over their successors, whereby they were liberated from that obligation to defer entirely to the authority of the New Testament which we ourselves acknowledge. There are, apparently, two circumstances in which these advantages might have consisted. Of these an ob- vious one, of which we may suppose them to have been possessed, is the gift of inspiration. If this be the case, the authority of their epistles must, of course, be equal to that of any of the canonical writings; and whatever we find of novelty in them, whether they be new truths or doctrines, or new modes of stating truths or doctrines with which we were already acquainted, we must accept all such as further revelations vouchsafed to their authors. The only remaining circumstance in their favour is that they were the cotemporaries of the first propagators of Christianity, and therefore had the opportunity of listening to the instructions of inspired apostles, and possibly of our Lord himself. From one or other of these they must have derived their advantages, if they really possessed them. The discussion of both will involve questions of great and grave importance, which have already engaged the attention of the Christian church to a considerable extent. It shall be our endeavour in treating them, strictly to confine ourselves to those matters which are indis- pensable to the subject in hand ; upon no occasion to lose sight of it, for the purpose of stating opinions on points in debate : and here, as well as elsewhere, to substantiate the facts upon which we may ground our arguments, by quotations from cotemporary authors ; thus availing our- selves rather of the materials which the talents and indus- try of the learned have provided, than of the opinions and speculations they may themselves have advanced upon them. CHAPTER II. THE WRITINGS OF THE APOSTOLICAL FATHERS WERE NOT INSPIRED. In denying that the Apostolical Fathers derived any assist- ance in their writings, from direct inspiration, we are met, at the threshold of the subject, with a circumstance which naturally enough presents itself to the mind as a difficulty of some magnitude. The Epistles of Clement and Bar- nabas were written from twenty to thirty years before the completion of the New Testament canon, and those of Ignatius and Poly carp a very short time afterwards. Now, of Barnabas, we know that he was for a long period the companion and fellow-labourer of the apostle St. Paul. The constant tradition of the Church regarding Clemens Romanus is, that he was the individual of whom the same apostle informs us, Phil. iv. 3., that his name was in the book of life : — ^and from the same authority we learn, that Ignatius was ordained bishop of Antioch, and Poly- carp of Smyrna, by St. John Theologus.^ Plainly, there- fore, they flourished at the period when the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon the church of Christ : — were not they, as well as the canonical writers, favoured with the gift of inspiration ? We can only ob- 1 Euseb. Hiijt. lib. 3. viate this difficulty, by opening a perplexing question ; — that of the cessation of miracles. At what precise period the thaumaturgic gifts were withdrawn from the church, and the advance of Christi- anity was left to the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit and to the intrinsic powers of its own verity, is a point which has been frequently argued, but upon which no satisfactory conclusion has yet been arrived at. I do not, therefore, presume to offer any opinion of my own upon it, without, in the first instance, laying before the reader the evidence upon which I conceive it to be founded. I gather, from Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, that, when he wrote, the extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit were no longer enjoyed by that church : he expressly mentions the schism he rebukes as the occasion of their departure ;^ and all parties appear to have consi- sidered it as final, for he never once directs them to pray for more than the ordinary influences. There appears to be strong evidence, in the same epistle, that they had like- wise ceased from the church of Rome, at whose request it was written. I infer this from his entire silence upon the subject : it would have so powerfully served the writer's purpose as an illustration, that I feel persuaded he would not have failed to take advantage of it, had he been able. This epistle was probably written before the fall of Jeru- salem,^ A. D. 71 5 and certainly after the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, A. D. 66.^ There is the . same absence of all allusion to the pre- sent existence of miraculous powers in the church, in the Epistle of Barnabas, which appears to have been written 2 Clem. Rom. ad Cor. I., § 1, 2. 3 idem, § 23, 41. 4 Idem, § 5. 10 very shortly after the fall of Jerusalem,* and I draw from thence the same inference ; so cogent an argument in their own favour, as that of miracles then occurring, would hardly have been overlooked by either writer, had it been possessed by them. The same peculiarity is observable in the seven Epis- tles of Ignatius, written about forty years afterwards ; and I see not how we can assign other than the same rea- son for it. Of the pious and humble Polycarp we have only one memorial, but that most precious : his Epistle to the Phi- lippians is, in my opinion, the most edifying production of the second century that remains to us. But here again, there is not a single allusion to miraculous powers, pos- sessed either by himself or any other individual his cotem- porary. We also derive, from another source, a convincing proof that the blessed martyr was not endowed with the power of working miracles. The epistle of his pupil Ire- naeus^ to Florinus, preserved by Eusebius, describes his person and habits, and lays great stress upon his account of the miracles of our Lord, which agreed exactly with that in the Gospels: had Polycarp himself wrought mi- racles, Irenaeus would doubtless have dwelt upon that fact also, and with minuteness, to the backsliding Flo- rinus, whom he exhorted to return to the bosom of the church. The earliest ecclesiastical writer of the second cen- tury, of whose works any thing remains to us, was Justin Martyr. In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,^ he men- 5 S. Bar. Epistola Cath. §. 4. Edit. Ox. 6 Opera, p. 463. It is quoted by Milner, Vol. I. 7 Wc (the Christians) have the gift of prophecy even now.— Op^ra, p. 308. B. We pray for the Jews and for all others who hoslilcly oppose us; 11 tions, generally, the existence of miraculous powers in the church, but brings no particular instances. This is, assuredly, not the course ordinarily pursued by an eye- witness ; the particulars of one miracle, wrought by a person then living, would have had much more weight with Trypho, than vaguely to assert the performance of a hundred. Theophilus of Antioch, his pupil, was not himself possessed of thaumaturgic powers, though his language regarding them resembles that of Justin. — He was chal- lenged by a heathen philosopher to raise a man from the dead, but declined the challenge.^ Irenaeus speaks of miracles, in his time, in a man- ner similar to that of the preceding authors. — He merely asserts that there then existed miraculous powers in the church,® generally ; but certainly does not write as if he himself had seen them. Tertullian's expressions, regarding the supernatural gifts imparted to his cotemporaries, are also very nearly those of the writers to whom we have already referred He that ye may repent with us, and not blaspheme Jesus Christ in whose name so many mighty works are wrought even now. — lb. 254. B. Edit. Lut. 8 Ad Autol., lib. 1., 77. C. 9 Adv. Haer., lib. 2., c. 56. After discrediting the false miracles of the Valentinians, he proceeds, " Tantum autem absunt ab eo ut mortuum excitent quemadraodum Dominus excitavit, et Apostoli per orationem, et in fraternitate saepissime propter aliquid necessarium, ed quce est in quoquo loco ecclesia universd postulanti per jejunium et supplicationem multam, reversus est spiritus mortui, et donatus est homo orationibus sanctorum, p. 1 86. — Edit. Grabe. Further on, c. 57, p. 188, he speaks in the same manner of cast- ing out devils, foretelling future events, and healing diseases ; he likewise resumes the subject of raising the dead, and says, that the persons resusci- tated had afterwards lived many years among them ; but this mode of speak- ing quite excludes the idea that any such were then living, and therefore throws the time when the miracles were wrought considerably backward. 12 asserts, in vague general terms, that they then existed,^^ but only once ventures to relate an instance of their exercise : than which it is hardly possible to conceive of an alleged case of miracle with fewer rational claims to credibility.^^ Yet the tract in which it occurs was written after he had embraced the tenets of Montanus ; and as that crazy en- thusiast professed to work miracles, we cannot doubt that his disciple would adduce the most striking example he could find, in proof of the reality of these pretensions. It is likewise well worthy of remark, that he derives the ma- nuum imposition (a part of the ceremonial of baptism,) not from the practice of our Lord and the apostles, with Ire- naeus,^^ but from Jacob blessing the two sons of Joseph.^^ Is not this merely in order to avoid the acknowledgment, that the imposition of hands was no longer accompanied by miraculous gifts as in the times of the apostles "^^^ Clement of Alexandria certainly believed that mira- cles had ceased in his time : after speaking of the Israelites in the desert, he proceeds, " but we are of those Israelites 10 " Let one possessed of a devil be brought before your (the Hea- then) tribunals ; and at the command of any Christian the spirit will confess that he is a demon." — Apol. c. 23. " We (the Christians) bind the demons, and expose them daily ; and cast them out of men, as is known to many persons." — Ad Scap. c. 2. U *' An example occurred of a woman who went to the theatre, and returned from thence possessed of a devil : — and when the unclean spirit was pressed by an exorcist to say why he had dared to enter into one of the faithful ; ' I did right and most justly,' he replied, ' for I found her on my own ground.' " — De Sped. c. 26. 12 U. 8. c. 67. 13 De Bapt. c. 8. 14 St. Austin does not attempt to evade the admission, but expressly says, that the ceremony had ceased to confer miraculous powers. — Tr. 6 in. 1 Ep. Johan. For several equally striking evasions on the same point in TertulUan's Works, sec Bishop Kaye's Eccl. Hist. c. 2. note 12. 13 whose faith and obedience cometh not by seeing miracles but by hearing."^^ Exclusive of the ecclesiastical historians, whose au- thority, in my opinion, is of far too doubtful a character to be of any service to such an enquiry, this is the evi- dence from which we are to form our judgment upon the question : — It would seem that the following are the facts deducible from it. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were enjoyed but for a very short time by the church. Not more than thirty years after the first propagation of Christianity, it is probable that already were the churches of Rome and Corinth deprived of them. So rapid was their disappearance from the earth, that they had become of very rare occurrence at the end of the first century ; neither Ignatius nor Polycarp were endowed with them, nor were they able to make any appeal to their present existence in their writings. Their departure was, nevertheless, not simultaneous but gradual ; fifty and eighty years afterwards Justin Mar- tyr and Irenaeus assert that they still existed ; though the miracles to which the latter alludes had been performed some time when he wrote. The very equivocal and imperfect account given by TertuUian of miracles then occurring, and the express declaration of Clement of Alexandria that the Christian dispensation was no longer a miraculous one, leave but little room to doubt, that at the end of the second century miracles had ceased altogether. The passage in Clemens Romanus acquaints us with another fact, regarding their departure. They were with- drawn for the same reasons that grieve the Spirit to with- in 2 Strom., c. 6. 14 hold his ordinary influences, — their misimprovement by those upon whom they were conferred : and when once so withdrawn they were never afterwards restored. We hesitate not for a moment to assert, that these facts would be true of the most excellent of all his gifts, inspiration. That a mortal and sinful man shall have the faculties of his understanding, as well as the affections of his heart, pervaded by the divine presence, being constituted thereby the unerring historian of the past and the inspired prophet of the future, — we confidently anticipate, that a grace so transcendent should, of all others, exhibit the most exqui- site sensibility of sin — should soonest shrink from its con- tact with a world that lay in wickedness, and with a church distracted by schisms, and return to the bosom of God. — And such, in effect, was the case at all times, and especially under the New Testament dispensation. The purpose which called forth this immeasurable display of the divine condescension, was speedily, as well as effectu- ally, realised ; it had certainly departed, before the termi- nation of the first century ; and to eight persons only, of all those who attended upon our Lord's ministry, was this grace given, — ^by them was the entire canon of this inesti- mable book begun and completed. These considerations will sufficiently obviate any dif- ficulty we may imagine to arise, in deciding against the inspiration of the apostolic men, on the ground that they were cotemporary with the founders of Christianity. But it has been a prevalent opinion with the Christian church, that there are writings, by eminent men in reli- gion, which, though not inspired to the same degree as the canonical books, were, nevertheless, indited under such a measure of the direction of the Holy Spirit as to be of I u high authority. Let us endeavour to analyse this notion : — there are certain books which the Spirit dictated in part, but not altogether. But can the portions so dictated be pointed out ? — If they can, to what are we indebted for the remaining portions ? if to the writer alone, a fallible and erring man, what assurance have we that he may not be misleading us ? — If the inspired portions can not be pointed out. How can we safely assent to the authority of that of which we know not the origin ;— or believe in doc- trines, concerning which we are ignorant, whether they are propounded to us by the Spirit of God, or by the fancy of the author in whose writings they occur ? It is need- less to proceed with the argument. — The notion of semi- inspiration, involves a manifest absurdity : it supposes that the inspiring Spirit sanctions the introduction into the sa- cred text of that which of all things will most effectually defeat the object of the revelation. For the gift of inspi- ration was granted in order that its receiver might be con- stituted thereby the recorder of absolute, unmingled truth, and that his writings might claim the unhesitating belief of mankind, through all succeeding generations, on this ground alone : — and how could this object be more entirely frustrated, than by allowing the inspired truths to be in- termixed with the unassisted reasonings, or imaginations, of him to whom they were revealed ? It would be idle to object here, that the writer might be kept from error by the Spirit in these his mental efforts : — ^because that is itself inspiration ; and all that is meant by it in one of the ordinary acceptations of the word. — Assuredly, therefore, there is no such thing as semi-inspiration : that unspeakable grace was either imparted wholly, or it was altogether withholden. And in every written production, wherein the intellectual faculties of the writer have not been entirely 16 under the dictation and guidance of the Spirit, in the na- ture of things it is impossible that he can have interfered supernaturally at all. For these reasons we unhesitatingly deny that the apostolical men could have received any as- sistance from the Holy Spirit, in inditing their epistles, short of plenary inspiration. But we have already endeavoured to show, that the early period at which they were written, is a circumstance by no means involving the necessity, that therefore their authors should be inspired : and when we further state, that plenary inspiration has never been demanded for them, and that they generally repudiate such an idea in their own writings,^^ no further impediment remains in the way of our conclusion, that the Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers are uninspired productions ; and consequently, that so far as supernatural assistance was concerned, the obligation of the writers to defer to the authority of the New Testament was exactly the same as our own. 16 Barnabas, c. 1. Ignat. ad Rom., c. 2, &c. CHAPTER III. TRADITION. It remains for us to consider, whether the advantages which the apostolic fathers derived from being cotempo- rary with our Lord and the apostles, conferred upon them the right to advance doctrines which are not sanctioned by the New Testament writers, and the power of authentica- ting such, independently of that sanction. It may be proper to premise in this place, that we have not to con- sider their title to credibility, as transcribers of acts and discourses of Jesus Christ and his disciples, at which they profess to have been present, but which are not to be found in the New Testament; in no single instance do their writings assume this character. We must also bear in mind, that whatever advantages might accrue to them from hence, they only had them in common with Simon Magus, Cerinthus, Nicolaus, and others, who were, never- theless, the originators of some of the foulest and most fantastic heresies that ever disgraced Christianity. Assu- redly, therefore, this is no infallible security against their being in error. But, notwithstanding, their proximity to the times of inspiration appears to be an important circumstance in their favour. They were possibly the hearers of our Lord, certainly the pupils of his apostles; and their reli- c 18 gious opinions seem to have been derived from the oral dis- courses of these highly gifted persons, as well as from their written epistles. There is evidence of this in their extant productions, which referring not often to the New Tes- tament, contain, nevertheless, a scheme of religion corre- sponding, in its general outline, to that which is there promulgated. But we find in them, besides, many doc- trines and modes of interpretation for which there is no such authority ; and the point at issue is, did they receive these also from the apostles ? Here, again, we fall in with the well-known and long agitated question of Christian Tradition. We treat it as arising from, and forming a part of, our present enquiry. It is perfectly evident, that no one of the Apostolical Epistles contains, in itself, so full an exposition upon every point of Christian doctrine and ethics as may be obtained from a digest of the entire volume of which it forms a part ; but the apostles certainly declared the whole counsel of God to all the churches they founded : in all of them, therefore, a portion of the divine truth would be known traditionally only, or from the oral instructions of the apostles. Those of the apostolic churches to whom no epistles were addressed, would remain, for a considerable period, in the same situation as that in which the whole of them were originally placed ; their knowledge of Christi- anity would be derived entirely from this tradition. Never- theless, the written word of God is a complete transcript of the mind of God regarding man, — not one jot or tittle of all that Jesus Christ and the apostles uttered, which it is needful for us to know, is omitted in the New Testament : had the Gospels of our Lord been multiplied, so that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written, John xxi. 25 ; had we an accurate and un- 19 doubted record of all that the apostles spake and wrote from the first moment of their conversion to their final ejaculation at their martyrdom, we should not thereby be put into possession of one important truth or principle in religion, with which we were not already perfectly ac- quainted, through the books of the New Testament. We utterly repudiate the notion of an oral law in Christianity ; of the existence of certain traditions besides the written word, which were committed by Christ to the apostles, and by the apostles to the churches they planted and the bishops they ordained, to remain thenceforward with .the Church universal, as a leoo non scripta. We refute this opinion, in the first place, by the argument that demolishes an exactly similar figment, raised by the Jews from the Old Testament. We can find no allusion to any such, in the writings of those with whom these traditions are said to have originated. The passages ordinarily adduced in support of it,^ merely refer to the fact we have already endeavoured to explain, that the apostles gave verbal as well as epistolary instructions to their converts. We, in the second place, reject it, on the ground of its great improbability. — Is it to be believed, that after our Saviour had so severely rebuked the traditions of the Jews,^ and called them back to the simplicity of the written word, he would, nevertheless, cast a portion of that truth, which he came from heaven to reveal, into the same polluted channel, and thus give his adversaries the power of unanswerably condemning him out of his o^^^l mouth ? — the supposition is intoler- able. We are supported, in the present instance, by the 1 1 Cor. xi. 2. 2 Thess. ii. 15, &c. 2 Matt. XV. 1, 20. Mark vii. 1, 23. authority of those ancient writers, whose opinions, upon some other points, we shall be compelled to call in ques- tion. It has been already noticed, that the Epistles of Cle- ment and Barnabas were probably written before the canon of the New Testament was completed, and consequently, that their views of Christianity were derived, in a measure, from the oral instructions of the apostles. Yet, it is remarkable, that they never claim any authority for these instructions : their authoritative appeals are invariably to the Scriptures, generally of the Old Testament : they plead no other justification either of their doctrinal or ethical opinions. This negative testimony of the apostolical fathers against the existence of traditional doctrines in Christi- anity, we are able to corroborate by the more direct evi- dence of the fathers of the second century. Irenaeus discusses this subject in the first five chapters of his Third Book adversus Hcereses. He expressly denies their existence against the heretic Valentinus and others who asserted it.^ He appeals, it is true, to the oral instructions of the apostles, which he informs us were, in his time, well known throughout the world ;"* but only for the purpose of pointing out the entire accordance between them and their written epistles. He places this in a strong light, by supposing the case, that they had left no inspired writings behind them, when this tradition would have been our only guide. This case had actually occurred with certain nations of barbarians, among whom the apostles 3 " Etenim si recondita mysteria scissent Apostoli, qua; seorsim ct latenter ab rcliquis perfectos docebant, his vel maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas ecclesias committebant.'*— C 3. ^ " Traditionem apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatam.**— /rf. 21 had preached the faith and planted churches, while they were ignorant of written characters ; and they remained in the same state to his time, diligently observing this tradi- tion, which agreed, in every particular, with the doctrine of those churches that were in possession of the inspired Volume.^ In the writings of Tertullian we find the views of Irenaeus on this subject abundantly confirmed. He reite- rates his denial of the existence of oral doctrines in Chris- tianity, which had been asserted by Valentinus and other heretics, rejects the idea as madness, and declares that it casts a reproach upon Christ, as great, at least, as the more impudent fabrication that the apostles did not teach certain truths, because they were ignorant of them.^ " For the one," he says, " accuses him of sending forth ignorant apostles, the other dishonest ones." He also refers more than once to the existing Christian tradition, in order to point out its entire accordance with the New Testament Scriptures.^ Clement of Alexandria was infected with the error which is reproved by the two preceding writers, and sought in tradition for a sanction of the heathen absurdity of a double doctrine in Christianity, which he could not find in the written word.^ We can hardly, therefore, con- 5 C. 4. 6 " Solent dicere : non omnia apostolos scisse ; eadem agitati dementia qua nirsus convertunt : omnia apostolos scisse sed non omnia omnibus tradi- disse. In utroque Christum reprehensioni injicientes, qui aut minus instruc- tos aut parum simplices apostolos miserit." — De Press. Hcer.^ c. 22. p. 20. 7 Idem 32—37 — Adv. Mar., lib. 1. c. 21. 8 He thus describes it in his great work, the Stromates, which pro- fesses to be an exposition of the second or mystical doctrines of Christianity, as his Paedagogus is, of the primary and simple truths for the uninitiated. — " This work is not a mere treatise composed according to technical rules for the sake of show ; for in me arc treasured^p, even to old age, memorials ceive of a better proof of the rule we are endeavouring to lay down, than the present exception. As, then, we deny the existence of traditional doc- trines in Christianity, both from the improbability of such a notion and upon the evidence of those persons who, occu- pying distinguished places in the Christian church at the times nearest to those of the apostles, must have been their depositories had they existed, we, of course, deny all au- thority, on this ground, to the writings of the apostolical fathers. Greatly admiring, therefore, the little that we know concerning the characters of these eminent and holy per- sons, and fervently thanking the God of all grace for that he enabled them, in times of unexampled peril and of super-abounding error, to hold fast, in all its great fea- tures, the faith once delivered to the saints ; and at length to lead forth, as we believe, that noble army of martyrs, which are a specific against oblivion : for I possess the very image and adumbration of the discourses, at once easy of comprehension and spiritual, which I was counted worthy to hear, and of the blessed and excellent men who uttered them." He then proceeds to describe the various teachers of the new Platonics to whom he had listened ; and lastly, mentions one whom he found concealed in Egypt and with whom he remained ; — probably Pan- taenus, whom he succeeded as principal of the school at Alexandria. Him he describes as a " truly Sicilian bee, hovering over the flowers that grow in the prophetical and apostolical meadows, and distilling the virgin honey of the doctrines he had drawn from thence into the souls of his hearers." — " But all these kept the true tradition of that blessed doctrine which they had received immediately from the holy apostles, Peter, and James, and John, and Paul, as a son from a father ; and though few be like their fathers, yet, by the help of God, these apostolical seeds, sown in our fathers, have come down to us. I well know that many will rejoice in this my book, because this tradition is preserved in it." — 1 Strom. § 1. In ex- actly the same spirit he speaks a little further on, of "■ the glorious and venerable canon of tradition which was established before the foundation of the world."— /(/. p. 20. See also Peed. 1, 5. 7 Strom. § 6, &c. 23 r m who, overcoming the confederate powers of darkness by W the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, loved not their lives unto the death, we, nevertheless apply to their writings the precept of Tertullian,^ and their own example ; we enquire and search diligently whether the I apostolic men write according to the mind of the apostles ; and we say of them as of every other unassisted writing, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not accord- ing to this word^ it is because (on the point whereon they differ,) there is no light in them}^ 9 De Presc. Haeret. c. 32. lo Isa. viii. 20. CHAPTER IV. OPINIONS OF THE EARLY FATHERS UPON INSPIRATION. That the works of the apostolical fathers were held in very high estimation by the ancient church, is a fact too notorious to require that it should be here formally estab- lished by an array of quotations :^ and they certainly were in some measure entitled to it, both on account of the de- served reputation for sanctity of their authors, and with some of them, on the score of literary merit also. But it is much to be regretted, that the limits between these and inspiration were but little sought into or understood in those days. They do not seem to have considered, that whatever be the excellence of a merely human production, or of its author, between these and the words of him who is under the inspiring influence of the Holy Ghost there is an immeasurable distance, when viewed in the light of a religious authority : — ^for the one is the truth of God, that shall stand for ever ; the other is valuable only in propor- tion to its close and faithful adherence to the tenets of that word, and whatever it contains which is not to be found there, either mediately or immediately, is necessarily false. 1 The Preliminary Discourse to Archbishop Wake's admirable transla- tion of their Works leaves nothing to be desired upon this point, which it ably and amply treats upon. r 25 It is, to us, hardly credible, that this broad and most obvious distinction should have been lost sight of in the Christian church at any time, and especially at one so close upon its first establishment in the earth as the first and second centuries. Such was the fact, nevertheless ; they had but an imperfect idea of the tests by which all claims to inspiration ought to be tried, and were far too ready to admit them, by whomsoever they were advanced. One immediate consequence was, that even good men ex- tended the same lax rule of judgment to their own mental emotions, and thus mistook them for the impulses of inspi- ration. Passages are not wanting in the writings of the early fathers which prove the existence of this mistake. St. Barnabas concludes his well-known comment upon the ceremonial law, thus, " But how should we know all this and understand it ? We, understanding aright the com- mandment, speak as the Lord would have us. Wherefore, he has circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we might know these things.*"^ This bold avowal of inspiration is made in favour of a tissue of obscenity and absurdity which would disgrace the Hindoo Mythology ; though, in the same epistle, the writer entirely disclaims it for the very pious and scriptural train of reasoning with which he com- mences.^ Ignatius makes a similar general disclaimer of inspi- ration.'^ He experienced no necessity for it so long as his sentiments were in accordance with the teaching of the apostles ; but when he inculcates his wild, extravagant no- tions of subjection to the Christian hierarchy, he becomes inspired. — " Some would have deceived me according to the flesh ; but the Spirit being from God is not deceived. — I cried while I was among you, I spake with a loud voice, 2 C. 10. 3 C. 1. a. f. 4 Rom. c. 4. m attend to the bishop, and to the presbytery, and to the deacons. Now some supposed that I spake as foreseeing the division that should come among you ; but he is my witness for whose sake I am in bonds, that I knew nothing from any man ; but the Spirit spake, saying on this wise, do nothing without the Bishop^^ The mental process by which these good men were deluded is not very difficult to analyse ; both were evi- dently conscious that the doctrines they advanced did not rest upon a very firm basis of scriptural authority : but they nevertheless entertained towards them that kindly parental prepossession against which every one who com- mits his thoughts to writing ought to be upon his guard ; they were elated with the idea of having struck out some- thing clever and original, and this emotion they mistook for the inspiring influences of the Holy Ghost. It can never be out of place to point out the links of that mysterious chain of providences, along which the Scriptures have been transmitted to us, pure and unadul- terated; and here, I conceive, is a very remarkable one. Had Barnabas and Ignatius avowedly written throughout under the same delusion, there would have been, a priori^ no argument whatever against the probability of their be- ing inspired, and then the only point upon which we could have fairly contended against their admission into the canon, would have afi'ected their authenticity. But as the case now stands, we have no difficulty in dealing with it ; when they write scripturally they declare that they are not inspired, while they claim inspiration for that which is so utterly at variance with all conceivable rules of scriptural interpretation and with the whole tenor of the Sacred Volume, that it condemns itself. 5 Phil. c. 7. 87 One other instance of this self-deception will show that the same undefined notions on inspiration prevailed, at the end, as at the beginning of the second century. We have already mentioned the Stromates of Clement of Alexandria ; and we shall have frequent occasion to refer to the errors with which this voluminous work abounds. The author thus describes its plan and character. ^' The books of the Stromates are not like to those trimmed gardens, wherein trees and plants are arranged in a certain order to delight the eye ; but rather to a mountain covered with tangled thickets, where the cypress and the plane, the laurel and the ivy, apples, olives, and figs are so twisted together that it is difficult to separate the produc- tive from the worthless."^ It is not possible to form a juster or more exact notion of his strange and rambling miscellany than the author conveys in this passage. It is, indeed, a tangled thicket of prickly and worthless bushes, with here and there a plant from Scripture, withering for want of depth of earth and choked with weeds and rub- bish. And yet in the middle of the work we are informed, that the writer, having recorded the first part of the Gnos- tical tradition in what writings " the Spirit pleased^'' will now proceed to the completion of his undertaking, '' if God will and as he shall inspire.'''''^ A plain declaration that the whole of the Stromates were dictated by God the Holy Ghost ! That a man of good natural abilities, of strong and highly cultivated reasoning powers, and of astonishing learning, (and all this was true of Clement of Alexandria,) should, nevertheless, have been the dupe of so palpable a delusion, can only have arisen out of the loose and vague conceptions of the nature of inspiration which were entertained by the Church in those times. 6 7 Strom. § 18, a. f. 7 4 Strom. § I. 28 Another and a still more melancholy consequence of this undecided state of so important a question, remains to be considered. If there is any virtue which of all others the revela- tions of God most jealously vindicate to themselves, it is truth. As this was the case with both the earlier forms of the divine dispensation, so, in a still more emphatic and peculiar manner, is it characteristic of that more per- fect revelation which, in these last days, hath been vouch- safed unto us. Not only are we informed, that truth came into the world by its divine founder, and that he is full of truths but he assumes to himself the truth, truth in the abstract, as one of his peculiar and distinc- tive titles. Truth, is the one quality upon which Chris- tianity rests its entire claim to be regarded : it never urges the authority of its precepts upon the conscience, without, at the same time, presenting the evidences of its authen- ticity to the understanding. Totally different from the Paganism over which it so soon triumphed, and which, devoid of any rational ground of credence whatever, re- tained its votaries by the beauty and magnificence of its external ceremonial and by its servile ministration to their baser passions, the new religion rejected ornament as well as every other external aid, denounced, in terms the most sweeping and unequivocal, the vengeance of eternal fire against the soul that sinned after whatsoever manner, and called upon all men to believe its testimony because it was true. At the same time, it constantly invited, yea, courted, the investigation of these preten- sions ; the whole apparatus whereby its first propagation was accomplished, being adjusted with an especial view to affording the greatest jx)ssible facility to such enquiries. The apostles were sent forth to teach all nations, because they had been themselves the witnesses of those things that established the divine origin of their doctrine. And in the spirit of their mission they constantly raise the ques- tion of the truth of Christianity by an appeal to its exter- nal evidences, to " that which they had seen, and heard, and their hands had handled.'*''^ It was their boast that these things were " not done in a corner,'''^ but before all men, so that thousands then living, besides themselves, could bear testimony to the truth of them : while, under the impulse of the same feeling, the inspired historian of their labours highly commends certain converts, who en- quired more diligently than the rest, into the truth of those things which were spoken by them.^^ Christianity thus exemplifying this glorious attribute of its divine founder, even in its mode of annunciation, we are not surprised to find that its precepts more energetically enforce, and more fearfully sanction, its observance, than that of any other virtue. With a perfect unity of design, which we shall always have to admire under whatever aspect we regard its economy, this divine revelation, professing to be the word of truth, proceeding from the God of truth, and inspired by the Spirit of truth, assigns also to truth, a place of exactly corresponding prominence in its ethical system. Truth, is the mother element of all Christian morality. For, as on the one hand, it enjoins no virtue of which truth is not an essential ingredient ; so, on the other, there is no vice against which it denounces such an emphasis of dam- nation as falsehood. In a word, truth is the characteristic of the real disciple of Christ ; it is the badge of his pro- fession. Keeping these considerations in mind, our astonish- 8 1 John i. 1. 9 See Acts ii. 22. xxvi. 26. 10 Acts xvii. 11. ment and indignation are justly excited when we discover, that the most striking feature of the literature of Chris- tianity in the first century, and the early part of the second, was falsehood ; and falsehood in the gross, into- lerable forms of forgery and interpolation. The number of spurious gospels relating false facts, of spurious epis- tles propounding false doctrines, and of spurious reve- lations describing invented or imaginary visions, which appeared within that period is really appalling. Not fewer than eighty of such are referred to, by name, in the writings of the fathers of the first four centuries ; — and these all forgeries relative to Christ and his apostles : be- sides which, we have a mob of apocryphal fabrications in the names of the ancient prophets, patriarchs, sibyls, &c., which were either produced at that time, or were probably then largely interpolated. It had been well, if these dis- honest meddlings with existing books had stopped here. — But in the fathers of the second century there are constant complaints, that even the inspired writings were by no means safe from the mutilations and interpolations of the heretics; though such were easily detected by a reference to the authenticce litter cb, the autograph copies,^ ^ which were religiously preserved by the primitive church. To the heretics also were ascribed the invention of many of the spurious books we have just mentioned, and such was undoubtedly the fact : — ^nevertheless, that a very large proportion of them were fabricated by persons untainted with heretical opinions, we have (besides the testimony of cotemporary writers) the direct evidence of the books themselves. In not many of those that are still extant u See Tertullian, de Frees, lleer. c. 30. See also Bishop Kaye^s Eccl. Hist., c. 5, p. 307. e. s. I I 31 can any thing be detected which would have been ac- counted heterodox in the second century.^^ Strange and unaccountable as all this may appear, the light in which the apocryphal books were regarded, at the time of their publication, is still more so. Nearly all the fathers quote from them largely, in confirmation of their own statements and opinions. Tertullian attempts to defend the authenticity of one of them in an argument which is absurd, almost to madness ;^^ but such an attempt was quite unnecessary, for even the circumstance that the books were forgeries by the acknowledgment of their au- thors does not seem to have in any degree impaired their authority.^"* Such a state of opinion sufficiently shows the preva- lence of very gross misapprehensions on the subject of inspi- ration. We proceed to notice some other passages from the fathers of the second century, which further illustrate their sentiments upon it. 12 It is surprising that the enormity of forging the name of an inspired person to a spurious book, or, in other words, of lying in the name of the Holy Ghost, should ever have found an apologist. One would imagine that such a sin would go before its perpetrator to judgment ; — ^that of its un- speakably heinous nature there could not be a moment's question. Notwith- standing, a divine of the present day, who has edited three apocryphal books in a manner that reflects infinite credit upon his ability and learning, has assumed, in speaking of such productions, a tone of palliation at which I cannot find words to express my astonishment. 13 De Hab. Mul. c. 3. 14 The book entitled " the Acts of Paul and Thecla," which is still extant, and of which, as Tertullian informs us (de Bapt. c. 17,^ an Asiatic presbyter avowed himself to have been the fabricator " out of love to St. Paul," is quoted, nevertheless, with great respect by Cyprian, who called Tertullian his master, and boasted that he read a portion of his works daily; by Gregory Nazianzen, by Chrysostom, in a word, by a greater number of subsequent fathers than any other production of the same class. 32 Irenaeus,*^ Tertullian,^^ and Clement of Alexandria^^ were of opinion, tliat the whole of the Hebrew Scrip- tures had been lost during the second captivity, and that after the return from Babylon they were again communi- cated to Ezra by re-inspiration}^ The last-named father entertained the same opinion regarding the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament ; he held it to be an in- spired version.^^ He also assigns a measure of inspiration to the Greek poets. He grounds this opinion upon the quotations from Euripides and some others of them, that occur in the New Testament.^'' 15 u. s. lib. 3. c. 25. 16 De Hab. Mul. c. 3. 17 1 Strom. § 22. 18 I am persuaded that a large allowance must be made, in this and sim- ilar cases, for the cramped and enfeebled state of the reasoning faculties in these eminent men, arising from the total absence of subjects favourable to their development, in the course of study which was then in use. The natu- ral abilities of all of them were of a superior order. The style of Irenaeus is remarkable for neat and precise arrangement — a rare accomplishment in those days : of Tertullian I hesitate not to affirm, that for the fervent eloquence of his thoughts, though not of his language, for the dexterity with which he pursues the subtle sophistries of the heretics through their most intricate windings, and always to draw them forth to a triumphant expo- sure, and above all, for the stinging pungency of his sarcasms, it will not be easy to find his equal in any age : the talents and learning of Clement are also universally and deservedly acknowledged. But, notwithstanding, the constant recurrence of similar follies, throughout their works, bears me out in concluding, that the, to us, most palpable and mad absurdity of the notion of re-inspiration was altogether out of the range of their mental perceptions. The right use and application of our reasoning faculties is a gift which the long predominance of Christianity has imparted to us, of which we are all too proud, and for which we are none of us sufficiently thankful. 19 U. S. 2f» 1 Strom. § 14. The quotation from the book of Enoch in St. Index's Epistle seems to have decided the early church in favour of its inspiration ; it is frequently referred to by Tertullian and Clement. Justin Martyr,^^ and his pupil Athenagoras,^ both believed that the Greek philosophers had a certain mea- sure of inspiration, whereby they were enabled to arrive at those parts of their systems which are in accordance with the Scriptures. Clement of Alexandria enlarges and improves upon this notion : he declares the divine origin of the Eclectic philosophy, " a system composed of all that is well said and according to righteousness by all the Greek philoso- phers.'" " This," he says, " they received from the fertili- zing influences of the Logos or Divine Wisdom, which descended at the same time upon the Jews, giving them the law and the prophets, and upon the Gentiles, giving them philosophy ; like the rain which falls upon the house- tops as well as the fields.""^^ In another part of his work he argues thus : " All virtuous thoughts are imparted by divine inspiration ; and that cannot be evil, or of evil origin, which tends to produce good : the Greek philoso- phy has this virtuous tendency ; therefore, the Greek phi- losophy is good. Now God is the author of all good ; but the Greek philosophy is good ; therefore, the Greek philosophy is from God. It follows, that the law was given to the Jews and philosophy to the Greeks, until the advent of our Lord.'"^'* Elsewhere, he terms philosophy 21 Apologia I., p. 83. D. 22 Legatio, ^. D. 23 1 Strom, § 7' So in another place v .X»j)x>]v, imparted to the Greeks, which served them as a stepping-stone to Chris- tianity C""^^ he also ascribes to it the power of " purifying and preparing the soul for the reception of the Christian faith.''26 The notions regarding inspiration entertained by the early church being now before us, we are not at all sur- prised to find that the apostolical fathers are frequently quoted, as scriptural authorities, by those of the succeed- ing century : — since in doing so, they only assign to them the station to which they had already exalted a mere ver- sion of the Old Testament, the most palpable forgeries, and even, the writings of professed idolaters ! We triumphantly conclude that, however eminent the fathers of this epoch may have been for piety and learning, their opinions upon a point whereon they so grievously err are, as an independent testimony, utterly valueless, and by no means to be regarded, except when supported by that irresistible weight of collateral evidence which establishes the authenticity of the canonical books. It remains that we endeavour to account for these strange hallucinations of the early Christians. Inspiration, like the other miraculous gifts of the Spirit, was gradually and imperceptibly, though rapidly, withdrawn from the Church: — and, as might have been anticipated, she continued to covet earnestly this best gift long after the period of its final departure. The writings we are considering abound with unequivocal proofs of the prevalence of this desire with their authors ; and it is needless to remark, that in no conceivable state of mind, would they be so liable to the delusions and mistakes into which they were betrayed upon this subject. 26 6 Strom. § 8. 26 7 strom. § 4. 35 Nor have we seen as yet the extent of the mis- chief. According to tradition St. Hermas was a Cliris- tian minister whose holy and useful life highly adorned the religion he professed. Nevertheless, his entire work, the Shepherd, is written under this delusion ; and is, moreover, the silliest book that ever exercised an influence over the human understanding. I think it possible that some of the apocryphal wri- ters may have been deceived in the same manner. — Like Hermas, they were agape for inspiration, and therefore easily imposed upon themselves. The same passion also originated the desire to be tvise above what is written, which characterises the wri- tings of this period. — It was under the influence of this longing after further revelation, that TertuUian supported the pretensions of Montanus to be the paraclete promised by our Saviour ; declared that the preceptive part of the Gospel was imperfect, and required alteration, correction, and addition ;^^ and countenanced, like his cotemporary Clement of Alexandria, the fanciful notion of two doc- trines in Christianity ; the one obvious and deducible from the simple meaning of the inspired text, the other occult and only to be acquired by the initiated.^ The same un- hallowed and inordinate desire betrayed Clement also, into the aberrations we have already noticed. We can readily imagine that a period of the Church thus distinguished by a feverish thirst for hidden know- ledge, would also be eminently favourable to the success of forged books professing to be inspired, and greatly encou- rage their appearance. Men were prepossessed on behalf 27 Cetera clisciplinae et conversationis admittunt novitatem correctionis; operante scilicet et proficiente gratia Dei. — De Virg. Vel.y c. 1. 28 De Pallio, c. 3., de Idol. c. 5. 36 of their claims, and thereby unfitted for accurately exam- ining and judging of them.^ The consequence of such a state of things was inevi- table. The views of Christian doctrine entertained by the early fathers are not the transcripts of that which, having the eyes of their understandings enlightened,^ they discerned in the word of God by the light which itself diffuses, but of that which they discovered there, through the discoloured and distorting medium of a vast mass of apocryphal and uninspired productions. And though all this was speedily overruled to the final purifica- tion and establishment of the canon, a process which had commenced even in Tertullian'*s time,^^ yet it is deeply to be regretted that no care whatever was taken to recon- struct the doctrine of the church according to the views of the Christian religion that were then held to be the only inspired ones ; but the old errors remained in her traditional creed for many succeeding ages : and in their progress down the stream of time, the worst parts of them were grievously exaggerated. Our purpose is, carefully to compare the doctrines advanced by these early writers with those we find in Holy Scripture ; and thus to discover, if possible, the first germ of that accursed plant which so soon engrafted itself upon the true vine that God had planted in the earth : and which, absorbing the sap and nutriment of its parent stem, spread its boughs unto the sea and its branches unto the river, until the whole of Christendom languished in the shadow of death that brooded beneath it, and all who professed the Christian name fed on the ashes which its deceitful and bitter fruit afforded them. 29 1 John Iv. 1. 30 Eph. i. 16. 31 De Pudicitia, c. 10. CHAPTER V. ANGELS. The opinions of the early Christian fathers upon the nature of angels, are so interwoven with their notions upon other doctrinal points, that with them we may very conveniently commence our examination. This is a re- vealed truth, regarding which it was the evident intention of the Spirit of inspiration, that nothing should be disclo- sed beyond the fact of its existence. Their name, both in Hebrew and Greek, imports the office in which they are ordinarily found engaged in the sacred history, but gives no definition of their nature.* It is also remarkable, that nothing concerning them exclusively, is ever made the subject of revelation ; they are only mentioned casually, in the accounts of transactions accomplished through their agency. The following would seem to be all that we really know of this mysterious subject. The angels are created beings,^ who came into existence before the foundation of the world .^ Their essence is different both from the divine and human natures ;* it is immortal, that to which we shall in a future state be assimilated,^ and spiritual.^ 1 Angelus officii non naturae vocabula — Terl. de Carni Christ*., c. 14. 2 Nehem. ix. 6. Col. i. 16. 3 Job xxxviii. 4—7. * Heb. ii. 16. •'' Luke XX. 26. ^ Psa. civ. 4. 38 As it respects their powers and faculties, they excel in strength,^ they can assume the external appearance ^ and perform the functions of human beings,^ and were generally invested with a splendour or brightness, which distinguished their presence from that of a mere man.^^ Under this form they have the power of working miracles :^^ they can appear and disappear at pleasure, sometimes to all present, at other times only to a part ;^^ the mode of disappearance being, on one occasion, by ascent into the air.^^ Of this power of gliding or flying through the air, we find them to be possessed from other passages. ^^ They are likewise endowed with the still more incomprehensible faculty of impressing the signs of their presence upon the mental apprehensions of men, without the interposition of the external senses : thereby making known their messages in dreams.^^ Of their hierarchies and orders our knowledge is very limited. The celestial beings who guarded the approaches to Paradise after the falP^ and whose sculptured images overshadowed the mercy-seat,^^ are not angels. These representations, fashioned after the pattern which was shown to Moses in the mount,^^ agree in so many par- ticulars with IsaiaVs vision in the temple,^^ with that which appeared to Ezekiel by the river Chebar,^^ and which St. John beheld in the island of Patmos,^^ that we cannot doubt but the same scene and the same beings were 7 Psa. ciii. 20. » Judges xiii. 6. 1 Sam. xxix. 9. 9 Gen. xvii. 8. xix. 1—11, &c. lO Matt, xxviii. 3. 11 Gen. xix. 11. Judges vi. 21. Acts xii. 7' 12 Gen. xxii. 23, &c., Dan. x. 7- '^ Judges xiii. 20. 14 Dan. ix. 21. Rev. viii. 13. xiv. C. 15 Matt. ii. 13, 20, &c. 16 Gen. ill. 24. 17 Exod. xxv. 18—22. 18 Exod. v. 40. 19 Isa. vi. 1, 2. 20 Ezek. i. 3—21. 21 Rev. iv. 6—8. 39 revealed to all of them. But they are termed cherubs, seraphs, living creatures, — never angels. However, that some subordination obtains among the beings who partake of the angelic nature, is frequently hinted at in the Holy Scriptures,^ and is moreover in strict analogy with the arrangement of every other part of God's creation. One particular concerning it may be deduced from several passages. We read in the visions of Daniel of an exalted being named Michael, who is one of the chief princes ;^^ and the epistle of St. Jude informs us, that he is an archangel. In the same visions, the name of another celestial personage, Gabriel, is mentioned i^"^ he is also called the man GahrielP He was afterwards seen by Zacharias in the temple, when he declared his office to be " that he stood in the presence of God :"^ and he again appears in the inspired account of the annunciation, where he is expressly named, the angel Gabriel.^ Now as we can conceive of no higher office than that of standing in the presence of God, and of no higher honour than that of announcing the incarnation of God, we, without hesitation, assign to him the most elevated rank in the angelic hierarchy. But we have seen that Michael the archangel is likewise one of the chief princes, and we find in the New Testament that he leads forth the hosts of heaven to battle :^ he is moreover an angel of the presence ; for he is the angel of Israel,^ who is declared to be of the pre- sence also.^^ We cannot, therefore, err in assigning a post of equal elevation to him. The apostle St. John informs us in the Revelations,^^ that seven angels stand before God. 22 1 Cor. XV. 39—41. Rom. viii. 38. Eph. i. 31, &c., &c. 25 Dan. X. 16. 24 Dan. vui. 16. 25 Dan. ix. 21. 26 Luke i. 19. 27 Vcr. 26. 28 Rev. xii. 7- 29 Dan. xii. 1. 30 Isa. Ixiii. 9. 31 Rev. viii. 2. 40 Nothing more is disclosed to us, either regarding the archangels, or generally, upon the subject of the subordi- nations of rank which obtain in the angelic host. We proceed to the offices which Holy Scripture assigns to the angels, of which it informs us there is "an innume- rable company .'"^2 Their office in heaven is to surround the throne and to sing the praises of God, but that they are continually dispatched from thence on messages of mercy or of wrath to mankind, and to wield the powers of nature in conformity to the divine will, is plainly revealed, and too well known, to require that we should here dwell upon it. Of the mode of discharging these several functions, enough is disclosed to enable us to dis- cover therein, the same system of harmony and adaptation that characterises the entire government of the Lord of heaven and earth. The fulfilment of the destinies of the several nations of the world, and their protection seems, in a mode to us incomprehensible, (because not revealed) to be assigned to particular angels or hosts of angels. Thus Michael is called by Daniel, the prince that standeth up for or protects the children of Israel ;^ in the same prophecy we are informed that he strove for twenty- one days with the prince of Persia ; the prince of Javan is also mentioned ; all these expressions we can only understand of the tutelary angels of those countries.** In the Apocalypse also we read of the angel of the waters — that is, of the figurative waters; the people thereby symbolized.^ 32 Heb. xii. 22.; see also Dan. vii. 10. Psa. Ixviii. 17. Matt, xxvi. 63. 33 Dan. xii. 1. 34 Dan. X. 10—21. 35 Rev. xvi. 5. ; or it may be, of the element of water : for we read, Rev. xiv. 18., of the angel that had power over fire. I 41 We are also borne out by Scripture in concluding that the offices of the angelic hosts are still further sub- ordinated. — We are informed of the existence of guar- dian angels, the appointed protectors of individuals ;^ to minister to their religious advancement f^ to deliver them from evil ;^ and finally to bear their spirits to the pre- sence of God.^ Hitherto we have endeavoured to collect the Scripture account of those angels that, fulfilling the purpose of their existence, remain the willing and faithful ministers of their great Creator. But from the same unerring authority we find that there are, besides these, other angels who kept not their first estate, hut left their own habitation ;^^ we only know further concerning this event, that it took place before the fall of man. These angels having powers and faculties like the angels of God, employ them with the same energy in the promotion of physical and moral evil, as the good angels address theirs to the accomplishment of the bene- ficent and holy purposes of their God and King. They are, in a future state, to be the companions of the finally impenitent among mankind ; with them they are to pass an eternity of torment in the place of fire, which the wrath of God has prepared for them. We learn from many passages that the number of these evil angels is very great, and that they obey one ruler or king over them, whose most ordinary Scripture names are Satan or Diabolus and Beelzebub ; the one merely describing 36 Matt, xviii. 10. Acts xii. 15. 37 Heb. i. 14. 38 Gen. xlviii. 16. Psa. xxxiv. 7. xci. 11. Dan. vi. 22. Acts v. 19., &c. 39 Luke xvi. 10. 40 Jude 6. his office, that of an accuser or enemy, the other being the name of a fabulous deity, under the form of which he was worshipped by the heathen nations bordering upon Palestine. This being was the author of the fall of man in Para- dise ; which he compassed, either by assuming the form of a serpent, or by embodying himself in that reptile, so as to make it an accomplice in the guilt and a participant in the punishment.'^^ We also find that, during the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, Satan and his angels were allowed to appear before God ; that they constantly took advantage of this to remind him (if such an expression may be permitted) of the failings and sins of his people on earth : and that they likewise undertook offices congenial to their malignant nature, by the divine permission/^ But the apostle St. John informs us that there was war in heaven ; Michael and his angels fought with Satan and his angels, and finally and for ever cast them out, " neither was their place found any more in heaven."^ By collating the account of this event with some other passages, we may form a conjecture as to the time of its occurrence. The prophet declares that immediately upon this defeat, Satan or the dragon persecuted the man child, or Jesus Christ, upon earth.^ Now our Saviour, immediately after his baptism, was tempted of Satan in the wilderness : the inspired accounts of his subse- quent ministry also inform us, that his miraculous powers were almost incessantly exerted in expelling the evil spirits from Demoniacs ; though in them, we hear of the complaint itself, nearly for the first time ; and he expressly 41 Gen. iii. 42 Job i. C— 12. 1 Kings xxii. 19—22., &c. 43 Rev. xii. 7—9. ** Ver. 13. 43 tells his disciples, on the occasion of their discovering that they also possessed the power to exorcise demons, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."^^ These circum- stances render it not improbable, that the defeat of the evil being and his expulsion from heaven, by Michael the archangel, took place somewhere about the time of our Lord's baptism. It will be observed that in this our epitome of the Scripture doctrine of angels, we have endeavoured that the writers whose opinions we are about to examine should have all the advantage which could possibly be derived to them from the inspired volume. It is on this account that we have ventured to the utmost bounds of what can justly be inferred from thence, and given them the benefit of some obscure and controverted places, of which interpreta- tions widely different have been proposed by divines of deserved celebrity : though in doing so, it has been our earnest wish to avoid any thing like unfair or dishonest violence to the import of the text. It would also appear that, though the Scriptures afford us much information regarding the angelic existences, yet on no single point, have we enough to impress the mind with a definite notion. Of their nature, their powers, their orders, their history, we know nothing beyond a few facts, which are merely isolated points on the canvass ; it is hope- lessly beyond our powers to trace even the connecting out- line, much more to finish the picture. And if our faith in the Christian revelation be but as a grain of mustard-seed, our unhallowed aspirations after a more distinct acquaint- ance with these mysterious subjects will instantly be re- pressed by the reflection, that soon, very soon, we shall 45 Luke X. 18. I enter upon a state of existence, wherein our knowledge of them shall be commensurate with our most enlarged desires. We shall know even as also we are known. Considerations like these, however, have but too little weight with mankind at any time, and we cannot disco- ver that they exercised any influence upon the early church. The subject fell in exactly with the temper of those times, which were as much distinguished by the pre- dominance of an ardent longing to pry into the secrets of the immaterial world, as are our own, by researches into those of the visible creation. We are therefore not sur- prised to find, that it was seized upon with avidity by the curious and intermeddling spirit with things not revealed, which characterised that epoch. It seems to have been the point upon w^hich, of all others, further revelation was most impatiently looked for. Immediately on the termination of the first century, Ignatius the martyr thus expresses himself, " I myself, although I am in bonds, yet am I not able to understand heavenly things — as the orders of angels and the several companies of them under their respective princes: things visible and invisible, in these I am yet a learner."^ But whence was he to learn these things.? certainly, in his own apprehension, from further revelation : — and it would appear from a passage in a subsequent epistle,^^ that he then believed himself to have obtained it. But whether Ignatius arrived at this knowledge or not, it was poured forth in copious streams by a writer who, by no account can be shown to have lived later than contemporaneously, and who preceded him, according to the vulgar chronologies ; — a writer who, as far surpassed <6 Ignat. ad Trail., § 5. 47 Ad Smyrn., § 6. I I 45 Ignatius in audacity, as he fell short of him in doctrinal piety, in scriptural knowledge, and in natural ability, — In the Shepherd of Hermas we have a system of angelic orders and ministrations perfectly digested and familiar to the mind of the author. The personage who reveals the visions and similitudes to him, declares of himself, " I am the angel of Repentance, and give understanding to all that repent f^^ and " all who repent have been justified by this most salutary, or health-giving, angel, who is a minister of salvation."'"^^ It would also appear that all the graces of the Spirit are communicated through the minis- tration of angels ; for we are told, that '' the holy angel of God fills men with the blessed Spirit in answer to prayer.""^^ We are, moreover, made acquainted with some circumstances touching guardian angels, for which we should search in vain, in the inspired volume. — We discover, with surprise, " that there are two angels with men, the one of righteousness the other of iniquity ;'''^^ and that with these, all the good or evil suggestions of the heart originate. Their powers also would seem to ap- proximate much nearer to those of omnipotence, than the scriptural account will warrant us in assuming. — In the tenth Command we read of an angel of sadness, who, we are informed, is the worst of the servants of God; and who has the power of tormenting the Holy Spirit, of mixing itself with him, and destroying the efficacy of the prayers he prompts.^^ Nay, the whole work of grace 48 Command 4. 49 Command 5. 50 Command 11. 51 Command 6. 52 Command 10, § 3. Archbishop Wake says upon this place, " the reader will please to observe, that he speaketh not of the Holy Ghost as He 46 is accomplished by the ministration of angels ; men are brought into the church and edified there, or, if they are false professors, ejected thence, entirely by their agency.^ On consulting the fathers of the second century, we find that our subject is no longer in the unfinished and doubtful state in which it had been left by the Revelations of God ; but that upon almost every part of it, we obtain from them a large accession of new facts. As to the nature of angels ; They are distinct, po- sitive, and permanent existences ; not mere emanations resolveable into the substance whence they have originally issued.^ They belong to a class of essences which par- takes of the nature both of spirit and matter ;^ like the human soul it is invisible, though not impalpable ;^ but is transfigurable into human flesh in order that they may become visible to, and converse with, mankind ; the power of this assumption is resident in the angels them- selves, and may be exerted at pleasure: it is effected, either by a direct creation, or by assuming and changing is the Spirit of God and the third person of the sacred Trinity ; but of the spirit given to Christians, being an emanation or gift from the Spirit of God." The good Archbishop was mistaken ; the early fathers speak too often in this most unscriptural and profane manner of the Holy Ghost ; thus Tertullian, " Si spiritus reus apud se sit, conscientiae erubescentis quomodo audibit orationem ducere ab illo ? de qua erubescente et ipse suffunditur sane- lus minister; etenim est prophetica vox veteris testamenti,''^ De Exhort. Cast., c. 10. 53 1 Her., 3. 3 Her., 9, passim. 54 Justin Martyr., Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 358. C. 55 Angeli sine carne sunt. — Irerueus^ lib. 3., c. 23. Imago Dei genero- sior spiritu materiali quo angeli consistunt. — Tertullian adv. Marc. lib. 2., e. 7> Angeli natura substantia spiritualis.— /(i^m. de Animay c. 9. 56 Id. de Anima, c. 9. I 47 the appearance of some terrene substance.^^ Angels are sustained by food, but of a quality altogether different from that required by human beings.^^ As to their offices ; Angels were created by God with reference to his general works, that as God exercised a general providence over the universe, they might exercise a particular providence over the different parts assigned them.^^ They fulfil the duties of these offices as perfectly free agents, possessed of entire liberty of will, free to stand and free to fall, capable of both good and evil.^ In con- sequence of this, there have been already two angelic de- fections from the Creator. The first, which took place immediately upon the creation of man, was headed by the firstborn angel, whose name was Sathanas,^^ and who presided over the element of air :^^ it originated in his envy at mankind ; and he exhibited the first proof of his apostacy in the temptation of Eve.^ 57 Id, de Came Christi, c. 6. The incarnation of angels is a favourite subject with Tertullian : he often uses it as an illustration. De Resur. Car.^ c. 62, &c. 58 Justin. Dial. 279. Z>., Tert. ubi supra ; they derive this notion from the Septuagint translation of Psa. Ixxviii. 25, which is followed in our authorised version, but is probably erroneous. 59 Just. Apol. II., 44. A. Athenagorae Legatio 27. C. 60 Justin Dial. 370. A., Athena. Leg. 27- D., Tat. con. Graec. 146, c, &c., Iren. lib. 4. c. 71- 61 Tatian contra Graec. 146. D. 62 Iren. u. s. lib. 5. c. 34. he deduces this from Eph. ii. 2. 63 Iren. lib. 4. c. 7. S. This opinion was afterwards adopted and im- proved upon by Mohammed. Allah commands the angels to worship Adam, and only Eblis (quasi diabolus) refuses. — Koran, Sur 2. v.v. 34, 36. Clement of Alexandria says it was the fear of the divine image in man which made the angels conspire to deface it. The idea of their being envious he treats as incredible.— 2 Strom. § 8. 48 The second fall of the angels occurred shortly after the creation. The angel of the earth or matter was the ringleader ;^^ many of the subordinate angels of the same element being participant with him. It originated in their negligence of the charge with • which they had been entrusted by their divine Creator : instead of watching over inanimate nature, they occupied themselves in admiring the beauties of the fairest portion of the animate creation. The angels of God beheld the daughters of men that they were fair, and they chose to themselves brides from among them^ We can hardly conceive of a fiction so palpable as this, which will not bear the test of the slightest exami- nation. It is contradicted at the outset, by our Lord''s declaration that the angels are incapable of such affec- tions;^ and supposing this to be overpast, we are again met with the intolerable absurdity, of a class of beings so constituted and yet created of one sex only ! ! We have only to complete our exposure of its utter nothing- ness by stating, that it is founded altogether upon a well- known, and I fear wilful, mistranslation of a passage of Scripture in the Septuagint.^^ Yet there is scarcely a religious truth however elemen- tary, for which we could produce a more formidable array of authority from the writers of the second century, than for this falsehood. It is repeatedly referred to by Justin Martyr,^ and by his pupils Athenagoras^'^ and Tatian the Syrian.^*^ To these may be added Irenaeus,''^ Tertullian,^^ and Clement of Alexandria :^^ and we have now named, ^^ rtis vXrit Kai ruv iv ecurri ii^uv ap^MV.-—A.then, leg. 27* D. 65 Athen. leg. 27- D., &c. 6G Matt. xxii. 30. 67 Gen. vi. 2. 68 Apol. II, p. 44. A. ; Dial. 305. c, &c. 69 Leg. ubi supra. 70 Contra Graecos, 147. A. 71 Adv. Haer., lib. 4. c. 70. 72 De cultu Muliebri, c. 3, &c. 73 Paed. lb. 3. c. li., &c. I 49 with one exception,^'* the whole of the writers of that epoch, of whose works any thing is left. Nor was it allowed to remain as a mere isolated fact in the systems of these theologians : it acted an important part therein, and produced an abundant crop of doctrines. The danger of still further defections from the hea- venly hosts is by no means past : St. Paul's injunction regarding the dress of unmarried females during divine wor- ship/^ originated in his consideration, not for the women, but for the angels. The prohibition was rendered needful by their susceptibility of the tender emotions ; and the sin of the offender consists principally, in the needless exposure to temptation of her guardian angel.''^ The sinning angels of the second fall instructed their mortal paramours in the ornamental arts ;''7 they likewise taught mankind magic,'^^ divination, and astrology ;^^ as well as the more useful sciences of metallurgy and botany.^^ Two distinct races of beings sprang from the inter- course between angels and women. The one consisted of 74 That exception is Theophilus of Antioch ; and from the general tenor of what remains of his writings, we cannot doubt but his creed upon this point was that of his cotemporaries. He refers to a lost book on the nature of Satan, p. 104, D. 75 1 Cor. xi. 4—16. 76 TertulUan de Virg. c. \. He found his authority for this strange notion in 1 Cor. xi. 10. 77 Idem de Hab. Muliebri, c. 2, de cultu Fam. c. c. 4, 10, &c. 78 Idem de Anima, c. 67. 79 Justin Apol. I, p. 61. A. ; Tertullian de Hab. Mul. c. 2. 80 Tert. Apol. c. 35. According to Clement of Alexandria, these fallen angels revealed to their brides many truths which it was the intention of the divine mind to have concealed, until the advent of our Lord. This was one of the sources whence the Greek philosophy derived the truths it inculcated. — 5 Strom. % 1. E 50 the giants and other monsters that infested the antediluvian earth ; by their evil communications, the human race was so depraved as to be incapacitated for rendering acceptable service to the Creator, and was therefore swept away by the deluge.^^ Demons were also the offspring of this connection. They are, according to some, a separate class of beings ;^^ while others suppose them to be the souls of the giants.^ These beings are not material, though they take their nature from matter,^^ but spiritual, like fire and air.^^ To this nature, both their parent angels, and those of the Satanic fall, are perfectly assimilated ;^^ for having been excluded from heaven by their transgressions, they are no longer able to elevate themselves to heavenly things, but hover about the earth and air.^ This innumerable host of demons and angel-demons are entirely under the control and guidance of Satan,^ " the angel of wickedness, the author of all error, the corrupter of aJl generations ; who, having, at the first, tempted man to transgress the divine law, and made him, therefore, liable to death, infused the seeds of all sins into his posterity ; thus rendering them also obnoxious to his own 81 Irenseus lib. 5. c. 70. 82 Justin Apol. II, 44. B. ; Tert. Apol. c. 22. 83 Athen. u. s. p. 28. A. 84 Tatian contra Graec. 151. c. 86 Id. 154. C. 86 Idem 147. -^.» &c. Tertullian seems to have considered the assimi- lation not quite complete. He says the demons are more wicked than their parents — Apol. c. 22. 87 Atfienagoras u. s. According to Tatian, they sojourned among the different animals that inhabit the earth and the waters ; and in order to deceive mankind into the idea that they were still celestial, they introduced these their companions into the Zodiack.~.Con/ra Grac. 147. A. 88 Tertullian u. s. 51 punishment."^^ Between this prince and his subordinates, tliere is the most perfect unity of design and of action. Their one motive is hatred to man ; their one object, his temporal and eternal perdition : and for the accomplishment of this purpose, the subtilty and tenuity of their natures furnish them with fearful facilities. They are able to possess themselves of the bodies of men, afflicting them with divers diseases and svmdry kinds of death ; and of their mental faculties, in the case of demoniasm. They have likewise power over the elements, which they always exercise to annoy and distress the unhappy objects of their antipathy, by raising storms and blights to destroy the fruits of the earth.^ But these fallen beings use their most strenuous exertions to effect the destruction of the soul : and there- fore, are incessantly devising temptations, whereby they may allure mankind to the commission of acts of wicked- ness. Nor are their powers of mischief limited to mere external provocations : they can, at all times, transfuse themselves into those secret recesses of thought where the motives of human action originate ; and they suggest the evil motions, which produce murders, wars, adultery, and the long catalogue of crimes wherewith man offends his Maker.^^ Of all sins, however, that of idolatry appears most readily to have accomplished their wicked purposes ; into this, therefore, they were the most earnest and unremitting in their efforts to seduce their victims.^^ In putting men 89 Idem de Testimonio Animae, c. 3. »0 Idem Apol. c. 22. ; de Spect. c. 2. 91 Justin Apol. I, p. 61. ; Apol. II, p. 48. A. ; Tertullian ubi supra ; Tatian contra Graecos, 154. C. 92 Justin Apol. I, 01. A. ; Tert. Apol. c. c. 23, 2?. ; Tatian u. s. 152. B. ; Athen. leg. 29. B. C. i upon these courses, they were actuated by the ambition of their prince, to be worshipped as God ;^ a passion in which themselves also largely participated. They had, besides, another and more intelligible object in view. — The blood of the victims and the odours that arose from the consuming flesh and incense, in the sacrificial acts which they prescribed as the mode wherein they would be wor- shipped, were the proper food of the fallen angels and demons f^ and, of course, its quantity and quality depended upon the number and rank of their votaries. To efi'ect this, they possessed the statues of deceased mortals ; deluding mankind into the belief that they were deities,^^ by means of the various supernatural operations which were performed, apparently by the idols, but really through their agency. But their most efficacious mode of keeping up the credit of the various images, under the forms and names of which they were worshipped as gods,^ was the utterance of oracular responses.^^ They obtained the knowledge which enabled them frequently to declare very astonishing and startling facts, to those who enquired at their shrines, by the inconceivable rapidity of their movements. They are all furnished with wings, and such are their powers of flight, that the world is but as one place to them, for they are every where in a moment ; and as they are perpetually 93 Iren. lib. 3. c. c. 24, 25. His authority for this is Matt. iv. 8, 9. 94 Justin Apol. I, 59. D. ; Tert. ad Scap. c. 2. ; Athen. 29. c. 95 Justin Apol. I, 55. E., 57. D., &c. ; Tert. de Spect. c. 10. ; and in many other places. ^ The demons had no names but of these fabulous deities.— Justin Apol. I, 55. E., ^c. ; Tert. de Idol. c. 15. Athenagoras contends that the gods of the heathen were dead men, and the demons merely haunted them. ^Leg. 31. A., &c. 97 Tatian uhi supra, 152. B. 53 passing to and fro in the region of the air, they are able to apprise their votaries of events in one country, the instant they are transacted in another.^ This velocity passed with mankind for divinity. For the same purpose, of deluding the sons of Adam, and drawing them on to their eternal perdition, they taught them certain ceremonies in their mistaken worship, which bore a strong resemblance to those of Judaism, and even of Christianity.^ Nay, the divine truths, with which their insight into the Almighty's dispensations had furnished them during their perfect state,^^ they made subservient to their illusions, by disclosing them under a mutilated form, and thus obtained credit for virtue as well as divinity.^^^ The advent of our Lord, produced important changes in the condition of the evil angels, by greatly curtail- ing their power of deceiving mankind. The blasphemous heresies of the second century are declared, by the co- temporary fathers, to have been the direct expressions of the rage which possessed the devil and his angels, when they discovered, from the preaching of Christ and his apostles, that they were doomed to eternal torment : of this they had before been ignorant, and therefore had not gone to the same extent of blasphemy.^^ Our spiritual enemies, however, are still sufficiently formidable, both in their powers of evil and in their numbers. They swarm in every element ; they throng 98 Tert. Apol. c. 22. 99 Justin Apol. I, p. 89. A. ; Tert. Apol. c. 22. 100 See Note 80. 101 Justin Dial. p. 296. C, &c. &c. 102 Iren. lib. 5. c. 28., where he also quotes from a lost book of Justin's in support of his opinion. That Justin held this notion is evident ; see his first Apology, pp. the universe ; they make mankind the objects of their individual and personal, as well as of their general, ma- lignity. Every human being is attended by an evil demon,^^^ as well as by his guardian angel, through life. Nor can even our eternal salvation save us from appre- hensions of suffering from them, in a future state ; for at the hour of death, a struggle takes place, between the good angel and the evil one, for the soul of their charge ; and if the latter prevails, as is frequently the case, even with the departed spirits of good men, it remains from thence until the day of judgment, so under the control of the demons, as to be compelled to do their bidding.^^'* Our protectors against all these machinations to accomplish our ruin are the holy angels ; who, in numbers equal to those of their antagonists, are engaged incessantly in defending from their assaults, that universe, the parti- cular providential dispensations of which, they administer as free agents ; responsible only to God for the use or abuse of the divine power delegated to them. The per- formance of these duties calls the host of heaven to a state of interminable warfare with the infernal legions, — a warfare, which combines all the horrors of a personal combat, with those of a general battle. To enable them successfully to cope with their enemies, a most exact system of discipline and subordination was deemed, by our authors, indispensible. Individual angels are specially deputed to preside over each of the operations of providence ; the angel of death, ^'^'"^ for instance, and the angel of ven- 103 Tert. de Anima, c 5?. ; Apol. c. 46. 104 Justin Dial. 322. C. 105 Angelus evocator animarum. — Tert. de Anima, c, 53, : his authority for this fiction was probably the uyyiKoi Bavaroipapoi of the Scptuagint version ; see Job xx. 15., &c. 55 geance.^^ But besides these, prefectures of good angels are distributed throughout the cities and nations of the world, according to the divine and primitive orders. ^^ And, as a shepherd gives the whole flock his general atten- tion, but nevertheless, bestows his especial care upon the sheep that promise the most abundant reward of his labour, so the angelic ministrations are principally lavished upon those individuals of the human race, that give the finest promise of regal and philosophic mental powers. Over these, a particular angel was deputed to watch, and upon the diligent discharge of his duty, their progress in wisdom greatly depended.^^^ By the ministration of these national angels, philosophy was revealed to the Greeks :^^ and generally, it was an important part of their function, to instil good and holy desires into the minds of men. But this last duty was performed by them, in entire subordination to another order, which occupied a much more exalted rank in the angelic hierarchy. The Christian graces (as we have seen) were ministered by angels of this high class, an individual presiding over each of them ; and the same arrangement obtained also, with the Christian ordinances ; each had its peculiar angel, whose ministrations 106 Angelus executionis. — Idem c. 35. 107 Clem. Alex. 7 Strom. § 2., where he copies his namesake of Rome, ml Cor. c. 29 ; they, as well as Irenaeus, lib. 5. c. 12. p. 230., were mis- led by the Septuagint, which renders Deut. xxxii. 8., in utter defiance of the Hebrew ; " he" God " appointed the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God." 108 G Strom. § 17. 109 7 Strom. § 2. Clement supposes that the Greeks derived their philosophy from three sources : from the inspiration of the Logos ministered by angels, which Tatian calls, sympathy with the breath of God ; {see Note 80) from the unhallowed revelations of the fallen angels: and from the writings of Moses and the prophets; whence he endeavours to show that they drew largely, 1 Strom. § 3, 4. ; 5 Strom. § 1 . 56 were indispensible to the efficacy of the rite. TertuUian casually mentions the angel of baptism, ^^^* and the angel of prayer :^^^ and we cannot doubt but that, in his system, the other Christian ordinances were similarly pre- sided over. Thus we perceive that the doctrine of the church in the second century, regarding the holy angels, as well as the impure demons, was altogether impatient of the narrow bounds to which revelation had confined it, and that a system of demonology, perfect and complete in all its parts, was as zealously propounded for universal belief as any truth which that word contains. We need not institute any detailed comparison of the two schemes of angelic existence which are now before us, to discover, not only a want of harmony and coherence in their several parts, but, that there is really no affinity whatever between them. Certain facts it is true are com- mon to both ; but all these are evidently foreign to the latter scheme, and have been fitted into it afterwards ; often clumsily enough. They set out upon notions of the Supreme Being, altogether at variance with each other. The one supposes a God omnipotent and omniscient, who impresses, equally on the minutest and the greatest of his works, the infallible signs of his existence, as a proper act of his own Godhead. The brightest seraph that burns in his heaven, and the meanest mite that crawls upon his earth, are both the tokens of his creative power and the objects of his providential care ; to him, and to him alone, they, and all that infinite range of existences whereby these two extremes are ultimately connected, are indebted for life, and breath, and all things. This, his glory, he gives 110 Angelus baptismi — De Baptismoy c. 6. 111 Angelus orationis— i>e Oratione^ c. 12. I 57 not to another ; he accomplishes no part of his purposes by delegating his divine power ; he rules no where by deputy. As to the heavenly host that encircle his presence in innumerable multitudes, they are his ministers that do his pleasure : they do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. They know no other motive. Instinct with his will, they are as much the passive instru- ments in his hand for the fulfilment of his high behests, as the powers of inanimate nature. It matters not, whether he cut off in judgment by the blast of the pestilence, or by the sword of the destroying angel : in either case, the act is his own. Can there he evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it ? Or does he save in mercy ? He converts the sinner by the instrumentality of his accredited minister, thereby giving joy to the angels of his presence. By the faithful admonitions of his earthly ambassador, and by the agency of " ministering spirits sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvation," the convert is kept, amid many difficulties, in the narrow way that leadeth unto life ; and in God^s good time his ransomed soul is released from the burden of mortality, and wafted, on the wings of its guardian angel, to his presence in glory. But the minister that labours on earth, and the angel that flies in mid heaven, and the beatified spirit that sings in paradise, all combine their voices to proclaim to the universe — " This hath God wrought." The agency of the man and of the angel are lost. /, even I, am he ; and beside me there is no Saviour. In the scheme of angelic existences we are now considering, God, is all in all ! ! Let us endeavour to collect the attributes of the God of the other system. — We soon find that it is, in the nature of things impossible, that he can exercise either omnipotence or omniscience, consistently with the entire I free agency of the countless myriads of spiritual existen- ces, to whose responsible administrations he has committed the economies of providence and grace. For, whatever may be said of free agency under a dispensation like ours, where our God is a God that hideth himself and will be sought of them that find him, to talk of the free agency of sentient beings, dwelling everlastingly in the full blaze of their Creator's presence, and beholding the perfect mani- festation of incessant displays of his omnipotence and omniscience, is absolute idiotcy. Whatever attributes, therefore, the God of the early fathers may have possessed, he never could show himself forth in any other character than that of the mere president, or, at most, monarch of the universe : having a natural and imprescriptible right to the supremacy which is conceded, by an artificial one, to an earthly potentate, by his fellow men ; but differing from him only in this particular. We readily grant, that these authors are happily inconsistent with themselves, in their perfect orthodoxy upon the subject of the divine attri- butes. But we refer to the passages we have quoted, wherein they ascribe to the angels powers which trench so painfully upon those of the Supreme Being,"^ as proofs they were conscious of this inconsistency, and endeavoured thus to palliate it. Again ; if it be true that innumerable multitudes of responsible angels administer the whole of our relations to the invisible world, both temporal and spiritual, if to their good will we must ascribe our mercies, and to their anger or malignity our afflictions, — what rational objection can be urged against our addressing our prayers and praises to them personally, as well as to the First Great Cause, from whom (it would appear) we are estranged by so many 112 Sec page 45. 59 removes ? If they fulfil the commands of the Almighty, as responsible agents, punishable for disobedience ; if the same abyss which has already swallowed up countless myriads of their compeers, still yawns for them, surely their acts of obedience are, as it regards us the receivers of the benefits thereof, highly meritorious, whatever they may be with their Creator; and call for our supplications when we need them at their hands, and our thanksgivings when they are granted, upon principles so plainly elemen- tary to the relations of one being to another, that we hesitate not to assert, that the God of Infinite Wisdom cannot, because he will not, contradict them in any of his precepts. Yet, upon the scheme we are considering, we cannot at all reconcile to this principle, the stern prohibi- tions of angel worship, and of all attempts at commu- nication with the spiritual world, with which his word abounds. For if our parents and our guardian angels are equally the voluntary and responsible dispensers to us of the bounties of the Universal Parent, what reason is there for honouring the one, which is not equally a reason for honouring the other ? Or why is not he who honours his father and mother, in conformity with the divine precept, guilty of impiety towards God, as well as he who worships the angels ; since both stand in exactly the same relation between God and himself ? We are not surprised to find that the believers in such a system felt this difficulty to be insurmountable. Irenaeus administers a very gentle rebuke to the practice of angel worship :^^^ and an irre- fragable proof of its universal prevalence soon afterwards, 113 He merely says that such was not the custom of the church in his time. Nee in vocationibus angelis facit aliquid nee incantationibus. — Lib. 2. e. 57. According to the Romanists, Irenseus condemns the worship of evil demons only in this passage. 60 may be gathered from the circumstance, that nearly all the ancient liturgies sanction acts of demonology, by express prescription. It is unnecessary to proceed further with our comparison of the two systems. The God of the one is the Jehovah of the Christian Scriptures, the God of the other is the Jove of the heathen mythologies. It is quite needful to state here that the early fathers were by no means the authors of these unhallowed addi- tions to the divine truth. In the writings of the later Jews, they found the two in a state of incorporation so intimate, that I do not hesitate to assert that no critical skill, which they had, humanly speaking, the opportunity of acquiring, could have enabled them to effect the separation. The Targumists^^'* and the Apocryphal Books"^ abound with demonological allusions ; the system they adopted is also that of Philo^^^ and Josephus ;^^^ and to all these, they followed the example of the Jews in deferring, as to high 114 See the Targum Jonathan on Gen. vi. 3 : also the Targum on Psa. Ixxxvii. 25., and other similar places. 115 See the ridiculous fable of Tobit and his dog, passim. To this the Christian demonologists are probably indebted for the name of the arch- angel Raphael. (Tob. c. 4., &c.) Though in adopting it, they seem to have overlooked the circumstance that it is in reality a mere soubrigicet^ descrip- tive of the part which the angel performs in the story, in restoring Tobit to sight : pa(paiX quasi Sk'NSI, the divine healer, or physician. The name of the archangel Uriel, which occurs in the 2nd book of Esdras, (c. 5. v. 40., &c. &c.) is also of the same character ; it signifies tfie illuminations of God, {^H-'>'^^H) and refers to the office which the angel is made to fulfil in this eX'post-facto prophecy, which, according to the Archbishop of Cashel, was written about twenty-eight years before the Christian aera — Prim. Ez. lib. Vers. Ethiop. ed. R. Laurence, p. 317. See also the mode of speaking of the angels, and the parts they act, in Susanna and Bel and the Dragon, as com- pared with corresponding passages in the canonical books. 116 See his tract *£/» Ttynvruv Opera p. 221. Edit. Col. 117 Ant. lib. 1. c. 3., &c. 61 authorities. But their main support in this their error was certainly the Septuagint Version of the Old Testa- ment ; the translators of which, whoever they were, were deeply infected with these opinions, and have, in many places, corrupted the word of God for the purpose of supporting them."^ We have already seen that the early fathers held this to be an inspired version, and therefore did not acknowledge the necessity of any appeal to the Hebrew verity in confirmation of its renderings. We have also observed that they entertained the same opinion regarding the Book of Enoch, which they imagined had been lost at the flood, and afterwards communicated to Noah by re-inspiration. ^^^ This book, so long supposed to be irrecoverably lost,^^ has been recently restored to European literature, through the admirable translation of an Ethiopic copy by the Archbishop of Cashel : whose ingenuity and learning have supplied us with some very important facts regarding its origin. It is the production of a Jew residing in a country considerably to the North of Palestine, (therefore probably one of the Captivity of the ten tribes) who flourished in the early part of the reign of Herod the Great, ^^^ about thirty years before the birth 118 It is of course impossible here to enter upon a subject like this. I would merely request the reader to compare the following passages in the Septuagint, in addition to those already referred to, with the corresponding ones in our English version, or still better, with the Hebrew original, Deut. xxxii. 8, 10, 43. xxxiii. 2. Job. xx. 15. xxxvi. 14. xxxviii. 7. xl. 6, 14. Psa. cxxxvii. I. Prov. xvi. 14. Isa. xxx. 4. I am much mistaken if the whole of these places, as well as many others, are not mistranslated, often very artfully, in order to favour the false doctrine we are considering. 119 Tert. de Hab. Mul. c. 2. 120 Ludolph treats the idea of its existence in Ethiopic as altogether ridiculous — Hist. jEih. lib. 3. c. 5. 121 The Book of Enoch translated from an Ethiopic MS. by R. Laurence, LL.D., &c — Preliminary Dissertation^ pp. 20 — 40. G2 of Christ. This higlily imaginative and beautiful work embodies the notions imbibed by the Jews, during the Babylonian captivity, regarding the angels : and it is from hence that the early fathers derived nearly the whole of the details of their system. The idea of hosts of angels, the appointed and responsible guardians of the universe, and the dispensers of the various operations of providence and grace, is the basis upon which the entire work rests. It was here also that Hermas found his angel of repentance. ^^ Tertullian''s angels of vengeance^^^ and of death^^"^ may likewise be detected amid the obscurity which a double translation, and doubtless many careless transcriptions in both, have inevitably accumulated upon a book already sufficiently mysterious and perplexed.^^^ The second fall, which was so universally believed by 122 Enoch xl. 9. His name is Phanuel, i. c '~JX-133, which in Hebrew is descriptive of his office ; " he presides over repentance and the hope of those who will inherit eternal life." Hermas is also largely indebted to the Book of Enoch for the scenery of his visions. Origen long ago discovered this resemblance ; ^tpi ap;(;uv. lib. 1. c. 3. 123 « Raguel, one of the holy angels who inflicts punishment on the world." — Enoch xx. 4. He is likewise mentioned by Hermas, lib. 3. sim. G. 124 '4 Surakiel, one of the holy angels who presides over the spirits of the children of men that transgress." — Idem. xx. 6. In another place he is called Suryal, c. 9, 1. 125 The Book of Enoch was originally written in Hebrew ; but the Ethiopic has been translated from a Greek version. The former has existed for many ages, only as a church language. Ethiopic MSS. are therefore often mere transcriptions, many times copied, by persons whose knowledge of them was confined to the characters only ; a process of all others the raost certain to multiply and perpetuate errors. Add to this, that Europeans have hitherto had but very limited opportunities of acquiring it. All that could be done, amid these formidable difficulties, has certainly been effected by the most reverend and learned author of the English translation. I mention this, to account for the apparent failure of our comparison in some minute particulars — as the names of angels : in all the great outlines of the systems, it holds exactly. G3 the Christians of the second century, was exactly copied by them from the Book of Enocli. Tlie unfaithfuhiess of the angelic watchers,^^ their marriages with the daughters of men,^^ their instructions in wicked arts and forbidden knowledge, ^^^ the corruption of the human race by them and the giants their ofFspring,^^^ and the conversion of the souls of the latter into demons after their bodies had perished in the flood,^^ are circumstances for which they are altogether indebted to this splendid fiction. The leader of this defection also is the angel of the world, who seduces the legions of inferior spirits that are under him, with Enoch, as well as with the early fathers.^^^ The mixed and restless nature of the demons is another point of coincidence, which would appear to leave nothing to be desired in the proof of the absolute identity of the two systems.^^^ The fathers of the second century, therefore, adopted opinions regarding the angels which were very widely diffused among the cotemporary Jews, being traceable throughout nearly all their writings, from the period of the Babylonian captivity; and which appear to have been embodied and systematized by the highly gifted, but erring, author of the Pseudo-Enoch. ^^"^ 126 C. 7. 127 Id. V. 10. 128 C. 8. 129 C. 7. vv. 11— 14., &c. 130 C. 15. 8., &c. 131 C. 14. 1. c. 7., &c. 132 C. 15. 9, 10. The Platonic philosophy has also contributed to the metaphysics of the patristic scheme. The notions of good and evil demons, and of their inhaling the nidor of the sacrifices as their proper food, are both from thence. Many similar coincidences will be found in Porphyry, lam- blichus, and the later wTiters of that school. '33 If any proof be wanting (in addition to those collected by the Arch- 64 With regard to their origin, we conceive that cannot be a question of any great difficulty : since the notion of the Supreme Being upon which they are founded, that of a father of all administering his universe through the medium of free and responsible gods or angels, is the primary element of all idolatry. It is probable, that the process by which this assimilation of the inspired truth to the errors of heathenism took place was a very gradual one ; beginning in the idolatrous practices which disgrace the early history of the Jewish nation, and perhaps attaining its consummation with the children of the captivity ; who, dwelling with the Chaldaeans, a people famed for enquiries and theories regarding the world of spirits, would be placed in circumstances naturally conducive to the progress of such an error among them. But whatever might be its origin, the prevalence of this false doctrine in the Christian church was but of short duration. It is pleasant to find, that even in the third bishop of Cashel) that this book was originally written in Hebrew, or some of its cognate dialects, we may find it in the word " Ophanim," which occurs throughout, as the appellation of one of the three exalted orders of spirits who are the immediate attendants upon the person of Jehovah : thus c. Ixxx. V. 9, " The Cherubim, the Seraphim, and the Ophanim, surrounded the throne of God ; these are they that never sleep." This is a Hebrew word which also describes one of the accompaniments of the divine presence in Ezekiers visions (D'<3SnM see Ezek. i. 16, to the end, &c.) but which, on the authority, of the context, of every other place where the word occurs in the Hebrew Bible, and of the ancient versions, (from the Septuagint down- wards,) is translated " wheels." Another circumstance also ought not to be lost sight of. The copy we now possess has been largely interpolated from the New Testament ; expressions and sentiments peculiar to this revelation abound throughout the book : and one long passage, c. c. 60 — 63. pp. 65 — 71-, is made up of little else than a string of such quotations artfully disguised : for example, he quotes Matt, xxv- 31, with the very suspicious alteration, " son of woman** for " son of man^''* as it reads in the Gospel, c. Ixi. v. 9. 65 century the Hebrew learning of Origen had cast a consi- derable shade of suspicion upon the divine authority of the Book of Enoch and of the Septuagint version :^^^ while in the succeeding century, the still more profound erudition of Jerome no longer hesitated to pronounce the former altogether apocryphal,^^ and to point out that the occur- rence of a quotation from it in a canonical epistle, no more conferred a title to inspiration upon the Book of Enoch, than upon certain heathen poets of whose productions St. Paul had made a similar use.^^ At the end of the same period John Chrysostom treats the second fall of the angels as a mere fable,^^^ and thenceforward it was no longer believed or taught as a doctrine of the church. But though the error itself was thus early exploded, the later fathers do not appear to have considered that it exercised a very powerful influence upon the other parts of the theology of their predecessors. It is for this reason, that we had rather speculate upon some previous probationary state of existence through which the angelic nature has passed, than admit, for a moment, into our system even its elementary doctrine ; that of the present free agency and peccability of the angels of God. There is scarcely a revealed truth which this notion does not interfere with and vitiate : but especially, upon that vast range of important questions which regard our duties to God and God''s dealings with us, the mind is perfectly bewildered in endeavouring to disentangle clear perceptions, from the inextricable maze of contradiction and confusion which this error introduces. It was therefore plainly 134 Contra Cels. p. 267, 268, Ed. Spenc. 'rtpi Apx^v, lib. 4. cap. ult., &c. 135 « Manifestissiinus liber est et inter Apocryphos computatur." — Hier. Comm. in Psa. cxxieiL .3. 136 Coram, in Tit. i. 12. 137 fAv^oXoy'ta. — In Gen. vi. Horn. 22. 66 impossible, that the opinions of the early fathers upon these and other points of Christian doctrine, should not have been materially modified by the grievous mistakes into which they fell regarding the angels. Yet were their opinions, though grounded in acknowledged error, impli- citly adopted by their successors for many ages, with little or no alteration. And thus again, the errors generated remained in the church, long after the generating error liad passed away. I CHAPTER VI. THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS. BAPTISM. The visible church has long halted between two opinions upon the nature of the Sacraments which Christ has ordained therein. One of these opinions, which would seem to have a considerable advantage over the other, on account both of its antiquity and of the present number of its adherents, maintains that there is a spiritual efficacy inherent in the elements of either sacrament ; and that, provided they be administered according to the divine institution, the receiver must necessarily partake of the benefits they are intended to convey. The waters of baptism undergo a certain change, which renders them instrumental to that inward washing from corrupt and evil dispositions, of which the rite itself is the symbol ; so that regeneration follows baptism, as effect follows cause. In the same manner, there is an actual transmutation of the elements themselves in the other sacrament ; they be^ come, during the performance of the eucharistical service, the material body and blood of Jesus Christ, of which he who partakes is therefore necessarily apprehensive. The other opinion, which, according to its opponents, was scarcely heard of before the Protestant Reforma- tion, and which, even now, has but few adherents, in comparison of the former, asserts, that the elements are I the mere outward, visible signs of certain inward and spiritual benefits, the communication of which depends altogether upon the will of the blessed and eternal Spirit who is the giver of them. Consequently, the sacramental graces are imparted with exactly the same regard to the frame of mind in the partaker of the outward rite, as obtains in all the other ordinances and means of grace prescribed by the New Testament. The unworthy receiver, neither experiences spiritual regeneration in baptism nor discerns the Lord's body in the eucharist; for the same reason, that the prayer which goeth forth of feigned lips fails to obtain the answer which God is pleased to give to the right performance of that Christian duty. We shall presently review the whole of the Scripture testimony to the point in question : independently of it, however, the latter opinion would seem to be most in harmony with the general spirit of the Christian doctrine; which, in the matter of distribution of gifts and graces, always brings prominently forward the divine omniscience, regarding scrupulously the heart of him who seeks, and giving or withholding them, accordingly. This analogy is certainly violated, if we account the sacramental elements as means of grace in themselves necessarily efficacious. But the in- consistency is greatly heightened, when, after the example of a large and authorative portion of the Christian church, we arrange the two sacraments under different categories ; and make the one efficacious when rightly administered, the other, when rightly received ; or in other words, when we assert baptismal regeneration, and deny eucharistical tran- substantiation. We readily grant, that the Scriptures alone can ultimately decide the question; but, nevertheless, there is so plain an inconvenience in the want of an analo- gous system of theology, that we may fairly argue a 69 priori^ from the improbability of a revelation from heaven being so circumstanced. How this consistency is to be maintained, without assuming the sameness in nature of the two sacraments, I must confess I cannot comprehend. Again, let this hallucination be permitted in our theo- logical scheme, and there is an end of all argument upon the nature of either sacrament : since our logical deduc- tions in favour of baptismal regeneration, will equally prove the real presence in the eucharist ; while on the other hand our deductive refutations of this opinion, will be, to the same extent, refutations of our own, regarding baptism. We now proceed to compare the scripture doctrine upon each sacrament, with those which have been advanced by the early fathers. Though, in raising these much-tossed questions, we abjure all idea of rekindling the unhallowed fires wherein they were once enveloped ; but which (as we hope) the Spirit of God, dropping as the rain and distilling as the dew upon his church, has now quenched for ever. — Our only desire is, to afford a contribution of help, however feeble, towards that brotherly adjustment, which is so evidently the mind of Him who prayed, that his disciples might be all one, even as he is one with the Father. " Sacraments,*" says Hooker,^ " by reason of their mixed nature are more diversely interpreted and disputed than any other part of religion besides." And though the controversy occupies less of the public attention and is disputed with less acrimony now, than it was two hundred years ago, yet the opinions of the various sections of the church upon the subject remain nearly in the same state as when Hooker wrote. He then that goeth about to 1 Eccl. Pol. b. 5. § 57. treat upon a point in religion thus circumstanced, is not to be heard, unless his argument be always grounded upon the declarations and precepts of Holy Scripture concerning it. Having, therefore, in the exercise of faith and humi- lity, cast from us all preconception and prejudice, let us reverently bow before these pure fountains of divine wis- dom, that we may receive into our hearts, as into prepared and consecrated vessels, the clear stream of truth that flows from thence. We commence with the sacrament of Baptism, which is first mentioned in the New Testament, as the rite of initiation into the school or sect of John Baptist, where ^ it is termed the baptism of change of mind, repentance, ^ unto remission, (renunciation)^ of sins. In other words, they who by submitting to this ceremony became John''s disciples professed a new course of life, renouncing their former sins. The account given of it by another evan- gelist is to the same purport : John*'s disciples were bap- tized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins ; ^ that is, declaring their former course of life to be sinful, and pro- fessing to renounce it. In other parts of Scripture also it is invariably named, for the sake of distinction, the bap- tism of repentance. It may also be observed, that the Evangelists speak of the rite, as one with which John's cotemporaries were already familiar : and such appears, from other authorities, to have been the fact. Converts were admitted by baptism 2 Luke iii. 2, 3. 3 fittrdvetec. 4 a^ttrtf. The primary meaning of the word, is merely deliverance, by whatever means accomplished. John never ascribes to his baptism any effi- cacy in procuring the pardon of sin, nor did his disciples so receive it : else, what necessity for any other .baptism ? * Matt. iii. ^ 71 into the Jewish sect of the Essenes ; and it probably formed a part of the temple service for the admission of pro- selytes to the law, among the later Jews. John, therefore, neither invented the rite, nor associated a new idea with it. It had long been in use among the Jews, as a mode of professing a change of religious sentiments. We find moreover, that the Baptist omitted no opportunity of pointing out the imperfection of his own ministry, by directing the attention of his disciples to Him, whose way he was sent to prepare, and who, coming after him, was mightier than he ; from him they were to receive an inward baptism, a purification of the heart, through the agency of the Holy Ghost ; resembling the penetrative and destructive efficacies of fire, rather than the mere detergent properties of water .^ It is well known that the first public act of our Lord's ministry was, to sanction the rite of water baptism, by himself accepting it, at the hand of his precursor ; and that, on his ascent from the waters of Jordan, that effusion of the Holy Spirit took place, wherein the church has long discerned an unanswerable proof of the Trinity of Persons in the Divine Unity .'^ The sacred histories also inform us that baptism was employed for the purpose of initiation by the disciples of Christ, during the period of his ministry ; and though he himself never administered it,^ yet, on one occasion certainly,^ and doubtless, on many others also, he was personally present at its administration by his followers ; until, at length, after his resurrection, he for ever constituted it a part, and an important one, of the 6 « With the Holy Ghost and with fire."— Matt. iii. 11. Mark i. 8. Luke iii. 16. John i. 33. 7 Matt. iii. 13—17. 8 John iv. 1, 2. 9 John iii. 22. 72 religion he came into the world to proclaim, in the memo- rable words which his church has nevertheless so strangely forgotten : " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."^^ The rite of baptism consists, as its name imports, of submersion in water, either literally or figuratively, by sprinkling, in the name of the Trinity. The intent of this symbol is shadowed forth in Holy Scripture under a two-fold metaphor. The one, taken from the detergent properties of the sacramental element, expresses it by the washing or purifying of the conscience from the guilt of sin, and of the heart from the pollution of sinful desires, by the agency of the Holy Ghost." The element wherein this internal washing takes place is, in other parts of Sacred Scripture, declared to be the blood of Christ.^^ The other metaphor, which is somewhat more remote from the symbol, finds in the act of immersion the idea of death, and in the subsequent emergence from the bap- tismal font, that of resuscitation ; and this, again, is presented to us under the double aspect of, the death and quickening of the seed in the womb in animal repro- duction, and the natural death and resurrection of the body. The first of these notions is denoted by its accom- plishment, rather than by its process. Our Saviour ex- presses it by being " born of water and of the spirit f^^ and employing the same metaphor, St. Paul styles the baptismal font '' the laver of regeneration."^'* The other aspect of the metaphor is further illustrated by the death and resurrection of Christ. " So many of us as were i^> Matt, xxviii. 19. ii Acts xxiL 16. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Eph. v. 26. 12 Heb. ix. 14. 1 John i. 7- ^^ John iii. 6. 14 Tit. iii. 5. 73 baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in new- ness of life.""^^ These figures may, with some show of reason, be held to be, to us, somewhat remote and obscure ; but happily no doubt whatever hangs over the meaning they are intended to convey. The inward grace of bap- tism is the purification of the soul from sin, through the blood of Christ, ministered by that Holy Spirit whose office it is to take of the things of Christ and show them to his disciples, after the same manner as water purifies the body. To apply the stronger figure of the Baptist : it is, having the inner man pervaded by the influences of the Holy Ghost, which as fire consume the body of sin, as is the outward man, by the waters of baptism. By a change of metaphor, it is a death unto sin and a new birth, or resurrection,^^ unto righteousness. In a word, it is a change in the affections and principles of the mind, to the full as entire, as these figurative expressions would imply. It will be observed that in all these places the outward sign and the inward grace of baptism are mentioned toge- ther. This circumstance is the ground of the argument for their inseparability. We will, therefore, reconsider them with reference to this important question. The last command of our Saviour to his disciples as recorded by the Evangelist St. Mark, reads thus : " Go ye into all the 15 Rom. vi. 3, 4 I see also Col. ii. 12. and 1 Pet. iii. 20, 21., where the submersion is typified by Noah, shut up and saved in the ark, and the emergence, by the resurrection of Christ. 16 These two ideas were often confounded by the early Christian writers. world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damned.""^^ Here is a plain unequi- vocal assertion of the general necessity of baptism to sal- vation : but we maintain, that the passage also embodies an equally positive declaration that faith in the receiver is indispensible to its efficacy. For faith and baptism are not two independent agents in the work, as appears from the antithesis that concludes the sentence : " he that be- lieveth not shall be damned.^' The omission of baptism in this clause clearly intimates, that, as the damning sin is unbelief, so the saving grace is faith ; and consequently, the meaning really conveyed by it is as though it had read : " he that believeth not, shall be damned, though he be baptized.'" To exactly the same effect is another text to which we have already referred. — " Ye are buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead.""^^ In other words, ye, being buried with Christ in the waters of baptism, have risen again with him from thence unto newness of life, because ye had faith in the ability and willingness of God to perform this miracle of grace. The correctness of this interpretation is further con- firmed by the cases of baptism recorded in the inspired account of the ministry of the Apostles. Observing an exact conformity to the precept of their Divine Master, they only administered the rite to those in whom they found faith in the word of God, and convictions of sin resulting therefrom :^^ — ^both which are elsewhere declared to be divine gifts, and the tokens of that work of the 17 Mark xvi. 15, 16. 18 Col. ii. 12. 10 See Acts ii. 41. viii. 12, 37, 38. ix. 17, 18. xvi. 14, 15. xvii. 8. 75 Spirit upon the heart which is called regeneration .2*^ Our view of the subject is also strongly supported by the narrative of the conversion of Cornelius the Centurion \^^ whence we derive much instruction regarding the nature of baptism. An angel appeared to this devout proselyte and told him, that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God. Now we know assuredly, that no man can pray acceptably, unless he have the renewing influences of the Spirit of God upon his heart :^^ such, therefore, was doubtless the case with Cornelius, — ^yet he was not then baptized. We also read,^^ that during the preaching of St. Peter the miraculous influences of the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and his household : though Cornelius and his household were even then unbaptized. The mightiest energies, therefore, of the Holy Spirit were poured out without measure, conveying to the subjects of this his grace, spiritual regeneration in its largest and most comprehensive sense ; and all, without the intervention of the external rite. Nor was it accounted by the inspired apostle under whose ministry it occurred, either a de- parture from the ordinary course of the divine procedure, or a reason for the omission of the outward sign : which it certainly would have been, were this, in other instances, the unerring and only vehicle of the inward grace. — Far from it, St. Peter^ found in this very circumstance an argument for its immediate administration. Most plainly, therefore, does it appear from Scripture, that all the re- generating graces of the Spirit may precede the rite of baptism : and that in every instance upon record of the apostolic use of this sacrament, the outward sign was applied to confirm the inward grace, not to convey it. 20 Eph. ii. 8. Acts xi. 18, &c. 21 Acts x. 22 Rom. viii. 26. 2.3 Acts x. 44. 24 ib. 47, 48. 76 The examination of the remaining passages will dis- cover to us the import which Scripture really attaches to the outward sign in baptism. Our Saviour declares to Nicodemus : " Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.**'^^ St. Paul also writes in his epistle to Titus, that " God hath saved us according to his mercy by the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.^'^ The passages are exactly parallel; the expression " being horn of water ^'''^ refers to the same idea as, " the laver of regeneration ,•"" as also " being born of the Spirit,^"* in the one, corresponds in meaning with " the renewing of the Holy Ghost^'''' in the other. These expressions having always been interpreted by the church, as denoting respec- tively the outward sign and inward grace of baptism, we cannot err in affixing this meaning to them. When, there- fore, we shall have ascertained the exact sense in which the phrases, being born of water^ and laver of regeneration^ were understood in the times of the New Testament, we may hope to have arrived at the mind of the Spirit regard- ing the former. The word here translated " regeneration,*" occurs in only one other place in the Inspired Volume ;^ where it plainly refers to that new system or economy of all things, which shall be introduced at the consummation of the divine purposes in human redemption. In the same sense, it is employed by the cotemporary Hellenising Jew Josephus,^ as well as by the classical writers : and, which 25 John iiL 5. 26 Tit. iii. 5. 27 vraXtyyiviirta. — Matt. xix. 28. 28 When Zorobabel obtained the decree of Darius permitting the build- ing of the temple, the Jews on hearing the intelligence feasted for seven days. T»»y etvaxrinffi^ ««< taXiyyinffiuv rrji vrarptios ieprei^ovris. — Ant. Jud. lib. 11. cap. 3. 77 is still more to our purpose, it was also accepted with this meaning by the early Christian church, as appears from a passage in Clemenfs epistle.^^ The word regeneration conveyed the idea of a new and improved state of things in nations, and an amended course of life in individuals in all these instances. Can a doubt then remain that by it and its equivalent, in the passages before us, we are to understand that course of external obedience to the divine commands, which the gospel requires, and upon which the convert first enters, through the waters of baptism ? By regenera- tion in the font, therefore, the Spirit of God indicated the profession of purpose to lead a new life, which the act of submission to the rite of baptism implies : with no refer- ence to the inward grace of that sacrament, which is also expressed in both places ; in the one, by a figure of easy comprehension, ''■being horn of the Spirit f in the other, by a phrase divested of all metaphorical allusion, " the renewing of the Holy Ghosts We now comprehend, without difficulty, the nature of baptism. — It is the divinely appointed rite of initiation into the Christian religion ; occupying (as the Scriptures inform us^) under the gospel dispensation, the place of circumcision under the law ; both which ceremonies are therefore equal in point of obligation, upon those to whom they were respectively imparted, as initiatory rites. They likewise closely resemble each other in the figurative meaning attached to them ; both are acts of bodily purifi- 29 "isBcZi 9ri?'os ivpiB-ih, ^/a 'Tfis Xumpyias aurS •xocXtyyiviffioiv Kofy^eo iKvipvliv. — 2d. Cor. c. 9. 30 Col. ii. 11 — 13. Baptism is often opposed to Circumcision by the early fathers See Just. Dial. Tryph. 261. D. Tertullian calls Baptism signaculum fidei^ de Spec. c. 24., and Circumcision signaculum corporis., Apol. c. 21. Ka't riirn (iocrTuf/^a koyo; ti/aTv, yi oK]c(,rifjbipoi TiptTOfih, ru-XiKrtrii vffoc, fffpxyi; Greg. Naz. Orat. 40. p. 638. B., Op. Vol. I. fB cation, shadowing forth a similar act upon the heart, by the divine agency : — ^but, neither in the one case nor the other, do we perceive the slightest scripture ground for concluding, that this inward grace necessarily and irrespec- tively accompanies the outward sign. We will proceed to the examination of the opinions entertained by the early Christian writers, upon the subject of baptism. No allusion to it occurs in the first epistle of Clement: but in the second (which, though of somewhat doubtful authenticity, is, nevertheless, a very ancient production) we find the following passage: — "If Noah, Job, and Daniel were not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how can we hope to enter into the kingdom of God, unless we keep our baptism pure and undefiled.""^^ — He obviously uses baptism, for the profession of Christi- anity signified thereby. — And that he so understood it, we have further assurance from a succeeding passage; wherein, exhorting to the same act in different words, he calls bap- tism " a seal ;'"^^ that is the seal or token of the Christian profession ; the figure that St. Paul uses, in speaking of circumcision :^ implying the writer's conviction of the spiritual identity of the two ordinances. St. Barnabas styles this sacrament, '' the baptism that leads to remission of sins,"^ to distinguish it from the bap- tisms of the Jews :^ for, in their preference of these ceremo- nies to the gospel, he finds the literal fulfilment of Jer. ii. 31 Clem. 2 ad Cor. § 7- 32 Id. 10. Keep your bodies pure, and your seal without spot. — /// Herm. 9. § 16. " Signaculum lavacri."— r^r/. de Pudic. c. 8. 33 Rom. iv. 11. The apostle also applies this metaphor to the inward grace of baptism. — Eph. i. 13, ^c. 34 ro (ictTliO'fAX ro (pipov iis a^nn* ufAuprtu¥.—~>i. Bar. Epis. C. II. 35 Mar. 7. 4. 79 12, 13. This weak and fanciful, but very pious, author en- tertained perfectly scriptural notions upon this subject, as we discover in another passage of the same chapter ; where, in commenting upon the first Psalm, he strikes out from the expression, " he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water," (ver. 2.) the following, not very obvious, mean- ing, "blessed are they who, putting their trust in the cross,^ descend into the waters (of baptism ;") thus unequi- vocally declaring, that faith in the receiver was the condi- tion of the blessing. A little further on, in the course of a still more foolish comment, he thus beautifully describes the outward and inward change which the believing recep- tion of this rite confers. — " We go down into the water full of sins and pollutions, but we come up again, bringing forth fruit ; having in our hearts the fear and love that is in Jesus Christ, by the Spirit." In the epistles of Ignatius, there is but one passage wherein he alludes to baptism ; it occurs in that to Poly- carp i^-^ " let your baptism remain as your shield,^ your faith as your helmet, your love as your spear, your patience as your coat armour." It was therefore, in his apprehension, the token of the Christian profession : a view of the ordi- nance, identical with that which we have already noticed in St. Clement, as well as in the canonical writers. In the dull and silly visions of Hermas, which are equally devoid of imagination and of wisdom, we, not- withstanding, recognise a book which exercised a powerful influence over the early church. — Consequently, it is im- 36 iTi Tu IuXm. The early fathers were greatly delighted with the equivoque which the two meanings of this word afforded : it is used in the New Testament for " the cross" and " a tree." 37 §6. 38 flVx« ; scutum, old Latin Version. I portant that we should investigate the views regarding baptism, which he intended to convey by his clumsy alle- gories. There is an acknowledged allusion to it in the first vision of the tower,^^ which is a wretched attempt to allegorise the metaphor of St. Peter."^*^ The tower, the erection of which is to illustrate the progress of Christian- ity, is founded in water ;"*^ and the interpreter informs the dreamer, that it is thus built, " because your life is, and shall be, saved by water.''''^^ Through this water, all the living stones that constitute the building must pass : — some of these, " appeared very desirous to roll into the water, but could not ;''''^ the interpreter afterwards explains to him, that, " these were such as had heard the word and were willing to be baptized in the name of the Lord ; but considering the great holiness which the truth requires, they withdrew themselves."'^ He also saw that, after the stones had been passed by the angels who collected them, through the baptismal waters, and lay on the ground, they underwent a trial or ordeal, before they were fitted into the building. The round stones, that is, the rich, were hewn square ;^^ the rugged and cracked ones were polished : and certain stones were even cut off and cast far away from the tower.**^ He could not have laid down more plainly the scripture doctrine, that the inward grace of baptism is conditional, not upon the right admi- nistration of the ceremony, but upon the mental state of the receiver. In the same spirit, I conceive, he elsewhere speaks of the repentance, or change of mind, that takes place, when we go down into the water and receive the '* remission of 39 I Hermas, Vis. 3. 40 i Pgt. ii. 4, 5. 41 id. §s. 2, 7. 42 Id. § 7. See 1 Pet. iii. 21. 43 § 2. a. f. 44 § 7. 45 § 6. 46 § 2. 81 our sins," — for immediately afterwards he tells us, that " remission of sins is given to those only that believe.''^^ He also calls baptism a ''great and holy vocation;" an expression which harmonises perfectly with the notion of baptism as a token of external profession. In the same place he states, that there is repentance for one sin after baptism, and only for one :'*^ an opinion so utterly at variance with the whole of the evangelical doctrine regarding the forgiveness of sins, that it is sur- prising it should ever have been entertained. — It could not be but that such an error should produce evil. At the time it is said to have had the effect of causing IB many to defer their baptism until the very article of death :^ but it inflicted a more permanent evil upon the church of Christ, in that it gave to the baptismal office a place in the Christian economy more exalted than that which the Holy Ghost had assigned to it. The following passage from the second vision of the Tower,^*^ which is a further attempt and more at large upon the same allegory as the first, is still more obnoxious to this censure : " And I said," (that is, the dreamer,) " Sir," (interpreter,) " why did these stones come out of the deep and were placed in the building of this tower, seeing that they died long ago.?" He answered, " it was necessary for these prophets 47 II Hermas, Com. 4. § 3. 48 This opinion was believed in the church long afterwards. Tertul- lian maintained it. — De Baptis., c. 18. Clement of Alexandria certainly favours it : see his comment upon the passage of Hermas referred to in the text: — 2 Strom., §13.: though elsewhere he takes a different view of the subject. Sin, before baptism, he supposes to be remitted ; sin, after baptism, to be expurgated by the chastisement of the offender.— 4 Strom., § 24. That the error likewise prevailed nearly two centuries later ; see Gregory of Nazianzum. Oral. E/j ro olytov 'BxTlta-f^.a. P. 642. A. 49 See Greg. Naz. ubi supra, p. 643. D., 647- A., 648. A., &c. 50 III Hermas, Simil. 9. Q 82 and teachers to ascend by water that they might be at rest : — for they could not otherwise enter into the kingdom of God ; they, therefore, being dead, were sealed with the seal of the Son of God, which seal is the waters of bap- tism :"^^ that is, the Old Testament saints were baptized after the coming of Christ, and therefore after their own death, in order that they enter into their rest. The ten- dency of this strange absurdity to aggravate the evil of the former error is sufficiently obvious. The church, then, even at this early period, though perfectly orthodox in her doctrine upon the nature of the sacrament of baptism, had, notwithstanding, opened the door of error, by giving an unscriptural and unseemly prominence to the mere outward ceremony. This mistake fell in exactly with the temper of the times that followed ; and did not fail to take root down- wards and bear fruit upwards. The sentiments of the fathers of the second century well illustrate its growth and progress. Justin Martyr, the first professor of philosophical Christianism whose writings are still extant, gives the following account of baptism in his first Apology : '' We will now explain the manner wherein we dedicate ourselves to God, being made anew*^ in Christ Jesus. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach is true, and undertake to conform their lives to our doctrine, are instructed to fast and pray, and entreat from God the remission of their past sins,^ we fasting and praying together with them. They are then conducted to a place 51 § 1 6. This notion probably arose from a misapprehension of 1 Cor. XV. 29. 53 « Ingressuros baptismum, orationibus crebris, jejunils et genicula- tionibus orare opportet."— Terft*//. de BapHs., c. 20. 83 where there is water, and are regenerated by the same mode of regeneration^* as that wherewith we were regenerated ; for they are immersed in the water^^ in the name of the Father and Lord of the Universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost."^ It is pleasant to find from this passage, that the early church required not only faith in the neophyte, but faith exercising itself in the devotional acts of fasting and prayer ; and moreover, an express undertaking on his part to conform his future life to the Christian doctrine. Not a doubt, therefore, can remain, that she was perfectly correct in her apprehension of the necessity of faith in the receiver, before baptism could be spiritually profitable.^^ We also admit, that under such circumstances, she had reason to hope that, in the majority of instances, the outward sign of baptism would be accompanied by the inward grace. But, nevertheless, there is a confusion, or rather identification, of the one with the other in the expressions here made use of, which is utterly destitute of scriptural authority/^ Immediately afterwards also, he calls baptism '' illumination,*"^^ a mode of speech which is liable to the same objection. There is not a more copious source of inconvenience and error than ^^ avayivTiffius. ^ \v rS v^art kurpov Totvvrai. 56 Just. Apol. I., p. 93. D. e. s. 57 It will be observed that the agency of the Spirit is altogether over- looked in this passage ; I lay no stress upon this omission in so loose and inaccurate a writer as Justin. He certainly was orthodox in his opinion upon this point. — See Dial. 246. C. rls Ikuvh r5 fiecrlia-fieijos (that is, the ceremonial washings) XP-'""' «^7'V Tn6fji,ari (hilict'T]ifffjt.ivu -, 58 Potestatem regenerationis in Deum mandans discipulis dicebat eis: Euntes, &c., Matt, xxviii. 19 Irenceus^ adv. Hasr. 3., c. 19. 59 Id., p. 94. D.